How Far We've Come
by arandomguy227
Summary: Nearly a Year after the defeat of MaloMyotismon, a new  yet old  enemy has emerged in the digital world, with one goal in mind, the end of the Digidestined.  Can the Digidestined find a way to stop this enemy?  Sequel to Somewhere I Belong. Taiora/Takari
1. Late Night Emergency

_Hi folks, and welcome to my new story, the sequel to __**Somewhere I Belong**__ (which you should check out if you haven't already =)). Enjoy the first chapter!_

_Disclaimer: I Are Not Owning Digimon._

_**How Far We've Come**_

**Chapter 1 Late Night Emergency**

The digital world, a place of wonder, fun, adventure, and often times fright. Not many people can claim to have been there, but everyone knew about it. Of course knowing about it didn't really mean anything. Even the people, or at least the humans, who knew the most about it didn't know everything that happened there, far from it in fact, and someone was taking advantage of that fact.

"Hellfire!" Hundreds of bullets impacted around a group of fleeing digimon, causing them to run even faster. They were running from the burning remains of their village, which had just been destroyed.

"Exorcism Scrolls!" Hundreds of little scrolls blocked the digimon's path, exploded, and deleted dozens of them.

"Now where do you think you are going?" A voice asked with a laugh. The remaining digimon looked up to see a man shaped digimon walking towards them. Most of the digimon recognized this digimon, and were even more afraid than they were seconds before. "This story doesn't end well for most of you. A select few though, will carry my message to the world." The digimon laughed again before throwing his hands in front of him. "Final Spell!" There was a flash of light, and most of the digimon saw no more.

_Sora_

"Come on! Move down the field!" I shout from the stands as I watch the players on the field. I and some of the digidestined were in the stands, all out to support several of our own as they played for the regional championship. I had been an avid soccer player before I switched to tennis, and I couldn't help but coach from the bench. Of course the team couldn't hear me, as the entire field was filled with cheering fans.

So I'm sure most of you are probably wondering some things, like what's been going on for the last few months with all of us digidestined and what not, so I'll go ahead and fill you in.

It's now December, and it's been over four months since I almost destroyed one of the best things in my life, my relationship with Tai Kamiya. Hopefully you guys are familiar with those events, because even though things turned out well, I really don't like thinking about most of them. Anyways, where was I?

Oh yea, it's been four months, and I couldn't be more happy, and I'm pretty sure most of my fellow digidestined feel the same way. I know Tai does, since he feels free to tell me so every other day or so. He was one of the big reasons that we were here today.

"Come on Tai!" Kari Kamiya shouts from next to me, and her boyfriend, T.K. Takashi also shouted towards the field where Kari's brother was playing soccer. Those two had really come much closer over the last four months. Kari had gotten over the feelings of inadequacies she had been having about their relationship, and the two had really developed their relationship, much to the joy of all of their friends (though Tai acted like he wasn't happy about that, I'm pretty sure that was just his older brother instincts and duties kicking in).

"Come on Davis!" Matt Ishida, T.K.'s older brother, and my one time boyfriend, shouted towards one of our other friends on the field. Matt had managed to pull himself out of his own friendship demon, and resumed his place as Tai's best (guy) friend, that and to being one of the most chased after guys at our school.

Surprisingly enough one of the few (single) boys who attracted as much attention from girls was the same boy Matt was cheering for. Davis Motomiya, both Tai and Matt's protégé on the new digidestined team, was the freshmen star of the soccer team. Davis had suffered from one of the best problems that anyone could have, caring for his friends, and the people he considered family, too much. This had caused Davis to neglect himself a little too much, and while I'm not really sure we cured him of anything, he is much happier, since the people closest to him are happier.

Now the girl situation. I'm sure any of you who know anything about Davis are surprised to hear about it, I mean, I know I was completely surprised to hear about it, but apparently without the reputation of being Kari's weird stalker following him around in high school, not to mention being the only freshmen on the highly successful Odaiba High soccer team and one of the leaders of the digidestined, Davis has really become a girl magnet.

I suppose I should be thankful, all those girls chasing Davis meant they weren't chasing Tai, but having two of my closest friends needing to be hidden from hordes of fan girls had really got annoying after a few seconds.

"Score a goal Ken!" The last digidestined member currently with us shouted out. Yolei Inoue shouted to her boyfriend, Ken Ichijouji , who happened to be resting on the bench at that point.

"Um Yolei?" I said, trying to keep from laughing.

"Yea Sora?" Yolei says as she stares down at Ken.

"Ken can't score; he's on the bench right now." I say, a little giggle escaping my lips. Yolei blushes a little, but just starts yelling at Ken to get out onto the field. I smile and turn back to the game. Yolei really was clueless about soccer, but at least she was here supporting her boyfriend and friends.

As I observed the game one of the players in particular caught my attention, as he did pretty much every time I saw him. I couldn't help but stare at him. I couldn't make out many details from the distance we were, but you could see the size of his brown hair from a mile away, and the glint of a pair of goggles on his head also drew the eye.

Of course I knew his features quite well, so my mind filled in what my eyes couldn't see. I could see every feature on his face, and thanks to the years I'd spent with him, and thanks to the many activities we had done together, including soccer, I could even imagine what facial expressions he was wearing.

Tai Kamiya had easily the worst of all of the poor decisions I had made during the first part of this year. All of my actions had almost led to a loss of something that was more precious than life, the special bond that Tai and I had. Luckily I was able to see what I almost did, with some help, and fix the problem, not to mention save Tai from a digital prison. I smile remembering the first day after Tai had been reunited with his body, and then stood straight up as Tai broke away from the opposition.

He dribbled the ball down the field, moving through the opposing team almost as if they weren't there. He had teammates trying to keep up with him, but almost every single one of them fell behind, not able to match his speed, or dodge all of their opponents.

He was almost in striking range of the goal now, and two defenders were heading to box him in. That was a poor choice on their part, and I smiled as I knew what Tai was going to do. The entire crowd seemed to quiet down as the three players rushed to meet each other, and the big haired boy shouted.

"DAVIS!" He brought his foot back to kick it, and passed to the one teammate who kept up with him, who the defenders had neglected, and who had a perfect shot at the goal.

"GOT IT!" Davis shouted back, getting the ball at his feet. The goalie, who also hadn't seen Davis, dove to get back into position, since he'd been in a position to save a shot from the other boy.

Davis brought his foot back and kicked the ball right into the goal, inches from the diving goalie's hands. Davis ran forwards and slid in the grass, as all of his teammates ran up to him. Tai was the first to reach him, and congratulate him, but the whole team was there. Of course it was just one of many such celebrations that day, the game wasn't even close.

_Tai_

I slowly walked out of the locker room after the game, and sighed. We had won the game eight to two, but we should have done better. We were now in the All Japan High School Tournament, which happened each winter break, and proved exactly which school was the best in all of Japan. It had been a dream of mine to play in that tournament, back in the long ago days when high school seemed like the realm of the old, and more than a life time away.

I brought my hands behind my head as I exited the locker room. We'd have to improve more if we wanted to do good in the tournament….

"Tai!" A voice shouted, and I look up, and drop my bag as an auburn haired blur ran straight at me. I was able to catch Sora as she jumped into my arms, and we kissed for a few seconds. After that we pulled a bit apart and I looked right into her crimson eyes, and reflected on how lucky I was.

This year really could have been the year of dreams for me, since many things that I had always wanted had come true. Of course it had started off as anything but the year of dreams, at least where relationships were concerned. I'd asked my best friend, Sora Takenouchi, out a few days before Christmas, only to be turned down, and led to believe she actually liked my best guy friend Matt Ishida.

That had led to some stress on my part, but I was able to deal with it, though Kari would tell you otherwise. Then came the first dream to come true, the darkness that had threatened to destroy both our world and the digital world had been destroyed for good. Everyone was very happy about this, and everything seemed great.

You of course know what happened next, Sora, me, and the whole emotional separation thing was beyond confusing, but lots of good came from it, as I found out that Sora loved me.

Yep, the girl who I was desperately in love with, though I never really admitted that to anyone, including myself, loved me right back, and finally realized it. After all that drama, life actually settled down, and honestly I couldn't imagine being any happier than I was at this moment. I was going to the AJHST, no more digital demons bugging me, and I had the girl of my dreams in my arms.

"Miss me?" Sora asks with a smile as we hold each other.

"Nope." I said, and Sora hits my arm, trying to put on a serious face. "What?" I ask, grinning, "I could hear your coaching from the field; I knew you were there the whole time." I tell her, and she just shakes her head, smiling as well now. I pull her back into my embrace, and we just relax holding each other.

"You were great out there." Sora whispers into my ear, and I smile.

"Why thank you." I tell her, and was about to say something nice back when the other digidestined who were at the game round the corner.

Davis and Matt both start to whistle, causing me and Sora to look up at the group.

"Come on you two! We need to get to the pizza parlor!" Davis shouted, rubbing his stomach for emphasis. I look at Sora and we both shrug, we know better than to come between Davis and food, not to mention we needed to get away before Matt and Davis's fan girls showed up.

"Oh calm down DAVIS!" Sora shouted back, still holding on to me. She kisses me one more time then says, "Ok, now we can go."

The two of us head towards our friends, but Sora's outburst had a very bad side effect for certain members of our group.

"I FOUND HIM!" A voice shouts, and all of us look towards the shout to see a girl pointing right at Davis.

"Uh oh…" Sora and I say in unison as Davis is frozen in place. Have you ever been driving at night, and then seen a deer in the middle of the road? Well the face the deer makes as it's silhouetted in your spotlights is the same one Davis was making right now.

After a single blink if an eye the girl had seemed to multiply as there were a dozen more girls who all looked just like her.

"Davis, RUN!" Matt, who had far more experience than Davis in getting away from crazed fan girls, shouted, trying to help out Davis. He then took his own advice, knowing where one group of fan girls was, another was sure to appear. Davis held still for a second, then turned and ran after Matt.

The girls seemed surprised at first, and then the first one shouted "Get him!" And the whole crowd stampeded after our two friends. I stare at that scene blankly for a minute, and then burst out laughing. Really it was one of the funniest things to watch two of your best friends, who you'd seen face down monsters that would make a grown man cower in fear without blinking an eye, run from a group of high school girls. Sora was already laughing, staring after out two friends as they fled for their lives.

"That was really quite evil of you." I said as Sora continued laughing.

"I couldn't help it." Sora said as she links her arm through mine, still laughing. "Seeing the look on Davis's face was just priceless!" The two of us continue to laugh as we walked over to where Kari, T.K., Ken, and Yolei were still staring after Matt and Davis.

"Come on you four, they'll meet us at the pizza place." I tell the group who all seem to snap out of their daze. I'm still smiling, as we walk away to our cars. Sora, Kari, and Davis had all ridden to the game with me, but everyone else had ridden in Matt's van, and I instantly saw a slight problem.

"Uh oh." I said pulling my arm out from Sora's.

"What is it Tai?" Sora asked, concerned.

"Well, we don't have a ride for everyone…" I said, gesturing to my small car. It had enough trouble just trying to fit more than two for us in it, it was never going to work for six if us…If we played by the rules.

I smiled, and Sora shook her head.

"No way Tai, There is no way we can all fit in there…" She said, while everyone else seemed a little confused.

"Well the only other thing to do is…"

"No, we're not breaking into Matt's van." Sora said, cutting me off.

"But…"

"Tai, I don't care if you know how to hot wire it or not, Matt and Davis still need to get out of here somehow, and I don't think you want to leave your car." Sora said, smiling, since she knew I wouldn't let anyone else drive my car.

_The one problem with dating your best friend since you were six, they already know everything about you. _I think to myself after Sora finishes.

"Well Sora, unless you want someone to stay here, we'll all have to squeeze in…" I said, and Sora sighed, knowing that we'd have to do something she didn't like.

"Fine." She said crossing her arms, and I smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

"Don't worry Sor, you've still got shotgun, everyone else will just have to get in the back.

We all piled into the car, and to say things were cramped would be beyond an understatement. Sora and I were squished up to the console while the four younger kids were crammed in the back.

"Now Tai," Yolei said from the back, "Don't drive like you normally do, because this will not end well if you drive that way." I looked in the rear view mirror at her, and smiled. Yolei just groaned.

I sped out of the parking lot, to the backseat screaming and Sora laughing.

_Davis_

I slowly edged my face out of the alleyway I was in, checking both sides for any signs of the crazy girls. Before my head could get far out I was jerked back, roughly.

"Are you insane?" Matt whispered to me, as he pulled me away from the edge of the alley.

"No, I was just checking to see if they were gone." I replied, a little pissed. Getting chased by crazy obsessive girls was not good for your nerves; in fact it could even get me pissed at one of my closest friends.

Matt and I hadn't really been that great of friends before he broke up with Sora, but the incident with the two of us being controlled by a digimon, and of course our mutual being stalked by the girls of Odaiba had brought us closer together, and we were quite good friends by now.

"Just wait Davis." Matt said, and I calmed myself. Matt had been running from these crazy girls a lot longer than I had, maybe he knew something.

I was just able to see out the alley way, and I saw a large group of them pass, looking around for me and Matt. After they passed we waited a few more minutes, then Matt lead the way cautiously out of the alley way, and then sprinted to his van. I was right behind him, and we both managed to get to the van and into it without being spotted.

"That was too close." I said, sighing. Matt sighed as well, leaning his head against the steering wheel.

"You can say that again. How did they even find us?" Matt asked, and I leaned back in the seat.

"Well, Sora was taking exception to my whistling while she was all over Tai, and she decided to shout my name." Davis replied, and then leaned forward. "You don't think she did that on purpose do you?"

Matt looked like he was about to answer quickly, but stopped, seeming to think about it for a second.

"You know, she probably did!" Matt replied, sitting up. Matt then proceeded to curse for a minute straight. I simply laughed. Matt didn't really seem to enjoy having his two best friends pulling this type of joke on him, since Tai did the same sort of thing on a daily basis.

As for me, well I found it plenty of fun. Of all the problems I've faced in my life, and even as a freshmen in high school I've faced quite a few, being chased by crazy girls really wasn't that bad. Of course there was the fact that I'd never been pursued by any girl my entire life, let alone hordes of them, so I just enjoyed the attention. Of course it was getting a little annoying, and Matt had been chased for a year or two before me so I guess I could understand.

My phone started vibrating, letting me know that I had a new message, and I pull my phone out, causing Matt's demonstration of every curse word he knew (which was quite a few since he had yet to repeat himself once) to halt.

It was from Sora, a fact I figured best to not share with Matt, and she was telling us to hurry up to the pizza parlor.

"Who is it?" Matt asked, and I could tell from the look on his face that he already knew.

"It's the others. They want us to hurry up; apparently they're already at the pizza parlor." I told Matt, and he nodded, starting the car.

He seemed to calm down as we pulled out of the parking lot. "Well I guess I can't get too mad at Sora, after all I'm sure she's the one who stopped Tai from hotwiring the van."

I snorted as I realized he was exactly right, and then laughed as I realized what that meant. "Imagine all of them in Tai's car!" I laughed even harder, and then I realized exactly who was riding with them. "And Yolei's riding with them! Hahaha…"

_Kari_

I screamed a little as my brother accelerated right out of the parking lot. I was used to my brother's driving, I had to be since it was the same thing every morning so unless I wanted to walk all the way to school every morning I had to be used to it, but that didn't mean I still wasn't scared by it occasionally. Throw in Yolei screaming right next to me and it was more of a reaction to everything around me than actually being scared.

It's not that my brother was a reckless or bad driver, in fact I'd say he's probably one of the safest drivers that I know, he just drove really fast, and accelerated even faster. That gave the impression of him being somewhat reckless, but he wasn't really. Anyways with him in the car were a bunch of people who meant the world to him, he'd never do anything to endanger their, or rather our safety.

"Tai! Stop it!" Yolei managed to get out, and I really had to feel sorry for Ken. Yolei's death grip on him could not be pleasant in the least. T.K., whose lap I happened to be sitting in thanks to the lack of seats, laughed a bit, joining Sora, who was still laughing quite hard.

"What Yolei? Driving?" Tai asked, grinning as he took his hands of the steering wheel for a second. Yolei screamed even louder, and everyone, including Ken, laughed at her reaction.

"Ugh! You're worse than Davis ever was!" Yolei shouted, causing everyone to laugh even harder, especially Tai and Sora. That's how the car ride went all the way to the pizza parlor, and I do have to say I hadn't laughed that hard in a while. That's not to say I hadn't been laughing, just not that hard.

Sora and my brother finally getting together, like I had always wanted them to, had fixed a lot of problems, for everyone. Obviously it helped my brother out greatly, since he was no longer getting yelled at for no reason by his best friend, but everyone else was effected as well. Sora was happier than I had ever seen her, though to be honest if you had asked me if I wanted her to be happy a few months ago I would have said no but that was then. Then there's me. I don't have to worry about my brother as much, so I can worry more about my boyfriend, which just makes me happier each day.

T.K. is another person who's very happy now. I hadn't realized it at the time, I was a little too wrapped up in helping my brother to notice this, which made me feel very bad after I found out about it, but T.K. had a lot of stress to deal with because of our older siblings. On one hand he had me, who was absolutely hating his brother's girlfriend, and disliking his brother just a little bit because of the situation he'd gotten stuck in, and on the other hand he had his brother. Matt did his best to not take sides between Sora and Tai, but it couldn't have been easy for T.K. to have his girlfriend hating his brother's girlfriend, who was also one of his friends.

Man that was a confusing series of thoughts, let's see, whose next…Ah yes, Matt and Davis. Well the two of them are close friends now, despite their age difference, but I guess that's something that comes from the whole digidestined mentor thing that we have going on. I wouldn't say that Davis is better friends with Matt than Tai, but the three of them, and T.K. when he's not with me, make a pretty good group of friends, especially when Izzy and Ken are thrown in there.

For the rest of the digidestined, the biggest thing that Tai and Sora's relationship has done for them is allow everyone to no longer take sides. It had been a little bad for a while. Yolei and Mimi, who would communicate by phone or email, would take Sora's side, while most of the guys took Tai's side. Of course eventually everyone was taking Tai's side at the end, but for a while we'd actually been divided. Luckily that should never happen again.

By the time I finished my silent contemplation we had reached the pizza parlor that we had been heading towards. Tai and Sora got out of their seats quickly to let everyone else out, and all four of us stretched our cramped legs. Then Yolei proceeded to yell at Tai some more, while the rest of us laughed for a bit.

We all headed into the pizza parlor, Tai on the far side of Sora from Yolei to prevent her from getting any more ideas about hurting him. T.K. and I were holding hands, as were Yolei and Ken. Tai and Sora had their arms linked, and I think they did that just to be different. It was fairly ironic that the three couples had all ended up arriving together; it almost looked like a triple date.

"Hey do you guys think Matt and Davis are still getting chased by those crazy girls?" Ken asked as we all walked into the parlor. Tai stopped to hold the door and said as everyone walked in.

"We can only hope they haven't lost them yet." He said with a laugh, and I shook my head. Despite how much I loved my brother he had a really twisted sense of humor.

"Tai!" Sora said, punching his arm, "Be nice, and Ken I'll find out." Sora pulled out her phone, and sent a text to the two.

Tai had let go of the door as soon as everyone had gotten into the restaurant, and then jumped to the head of the group. I sighed. Sometimes it seemed like my brother had never grown up and still had to be first everywhere. He led the way to our usual seats in the back of the pizza parlor, and everyone sat down. Sora was bringing up the rear, texting either Matt or Davis. I looked around expecting the four digidestined who hadn't been at the soccer game to already be at the seats.

"Where are Cody, Mimi, Izzy, and Joe?" T.K. asks before I get the chance to.

Tai and Sora shrug in unison as they pull out menus that are kept on the table, looking to see what they want to eat. Yolei looks around the restaurant looking to see if they had taken seats somewhere else, while Ken pulled out his own menu.

"I don't see them anywhere…" Yolei said as she finished checking the restaurant.

"Izzy probably lost track of the time while he was on his computer." Tai said as he put his menu down. I don't really know why Tai and Sora were looking at the menu. We had been to this restaurant, even before it became one of the digidestined's primary hangout spots, hundreds of times and they pretty much had the menu memorized.

"Maybe we should call them…" Sora said, but Tai shook his head.

"Na, they'll be here soon enough, right now I think we should just enjoy some pizza!" Tai said with enthusiasm, which was only slightly lowered when the pizza didn't magically appear in front of him. I giggled a little as Tai seemed to realize he hadn't ordered yet, despite the fact that we had just walked into the restaurant. He quickly went up to the front to order some Pizza's for everyone.

_Matt_

I turned my van right into the parking lot of the pizza parlor, Davis's stomach growling even more now that we were in sight of the place where we were getting food. Sometimes I really wished that I didn't have to be the one with the big old van, because to be honest I really did enjoy driving faster than 50 kilometers per hour on occasion. I guess I can't complain too much, the van was better than no car and it was really convenient to have when we had big get-togethers, but I couldn't help it all the time.

Tai had his little car, but they couldn't usually get more than two people in there since he always had Sora with him. Then Joe just didn't have a car all the time since he usually borrowed his parent's car since he didn't have enough money to buy his own car. Mimi visited us all the time since Izzy had set up a digiport in America for her to use, but she didn't have a car here, and couldn't drive, just like Izzy and all of the younger digidestined.

So I guess it was a good thing I had this massive van, but I'm allowed to be bitter occasionally! Haha that sounds really whiney. Ok, so Davis and I headed right to the pizza parlor, Davis taking off ahead of me. I walked slower, after all I hadn't just finished playing a soccer game, and I didn't have Davis's bottomless stomach.

Davis was already sitting down right between Tai and Kari by the time I got to the table, and everyone jumped up to say hi to me. After that was done I sat down across from Sora, Tai, Davis, Kari, and T.K., right next to Ken and Yolei.

"Where are Izzy, Joe, Mimi, and Cody?" I asked noticing the slight lopsidedness of our table, not to mention the lack of digimon. It had been deemed best that the digimon not go to Tai, Ken, and Davis's soccer games so they were at Izzy's for the game. One of the competing teams had attempted to claim they hadn't played to their full potential because they thought the digimon would have attacked them.

That was a pretty low blow if you ask me, and I was going to have Garurrumon teach him a lesson in sportsmanship since he was insulting my friends, but Tai stopped me from doing anything rash. I know what you're thinking, but it's the truth. Tai stopped me from getting into a fight! How's that for a role reversal!

But anyways since then we've left the digimon at one of our apartments just to be sure, and oddly enough Tai's team still creamed all the teams they've faced, I really can't figure out why if their potential was being played to then. Ok sorry, enough ranting and sarcasm from me.

"They'll be here soon enough, now let's eat!" Davis said, his hunger taking over his usual concern for his friends. The pizza that the others had ordered arrived at this moment and everyone kept their hands away from the pizza as Davis reached in. He was about to take a big bite out of the pizza when all of our cell phones went off at pretty much the same time, all with the same ringtone.

"What now?" Davis said, putting the pizza down. The ringtone that had gone off was what we were calling the digidestined signal, as it was the one for the emergency phone that Izzy had to contact all of us if there was a problem in the digital world.

We all pulled out our phones, and they had the same message.

**Get to my apartment now!**

**-Izzy**

_What could be happening now?_ Went through my mind, and I'm pretty sure everyone else's as well.

_Well there we go, chapter 1 up and out of the way. What did you guys think? Hopefully you enjoyed it/where intrigued by it. Until next Week (Sunday to be exact!)_

_Oh yea, one more things, reviews. Their kinda awesome, so It would be really cool for you to review, even if it's just to say you hate this story or (preferably) you're interested. Ok, that's my sales pitch, bye!_


	2. Early Morning Disaster

_Ok folks, I'm back now for chapter two! YAY! Ok, taking excitement down a notch or two enjoy…right after this short disclaimer:_

_inoowndigimon._

**Chapter 2 Early Morning Disaster**

_Tai_

Well the mood in the car was a much quieter one as we drove to Izzy's house. While we had never ruled out the possibility of a new digimon attack at any time, after all that was the reason that Izzy, Mimi, Joe, and Cody were at Izzy's apartment, none of us had really expected that to ever happen.

Sora was in the passenger seat of my car, while Kari and Davis were in the back. There was no cramming this time since Matt had his van for everyone else. The lack of any sort of conversation sent of lots of signals to me that no one was in a good mood. To go from celebrating at a pizza parlor to a potential battle wasn't doing good for anyone. Even Sora, who had been more cheerful than I'd ever seen her these last few months, seemed down.

_I've got to get everyone to snap out of this funk…_ I think to myself as I stop at a light. Matt's van is nowhere to be seen, since, well I drive really fast.

"Why the long faces?" I ask, trying to get some sort of conversation started to snap everyone out of their sulking. Everyone would be looking to Davis and me for leadership,so we had to be cheerful, if only for everyone else's benefit, and I really hated seeing Sora or Kari not happy.

Kari and Davis just glanced at my eyes in the rear view mirror while Sora turned to me.

"Tai I think you know why no one's happy." Sora said simply, in a slightly pissed off tone of voice.

"What? Izzy's text message?" That earned me a nod from Sora. "Well, that's probably just Izzy playing a prank on us."

"Tai when have you ever heard of Izzy playing a prank ever?" Kari asked from the back of the car, "Anyways the reason we put him in charge of getting everyone together is because he wouldn't pull a prank like you or Davis would."

"Hey!" Davis said as I simply laughed. Yea that did sound like something I would do. I saw the corner of Sora's mouth twitch as I'm sure the same thought was going through her mind. "I wouldn't…ok, maybe I would pull a prank like that…" Davis sputtered into nonsense as his brain caught up with his instant reaction. This caused both Kari and Sora to laugh as Davis started grinning sheepishly.

I laughed as well, glad that everyone seemed to be relaxing a little bit, and Davis had actually managed to stop himself before saying anything really dumb. It wasn't that Davis wasn't smart, he, like me often times, ok most of the time, just didn't think every time before he talked.

"See, no one had to be all unhappy about this!" I exclaim as the light turns green and I speed off heading towards Izzy's apartment. "Anyways, it's probably just another herd of Numemon that accidently ran over one of our partners." There were more snorts of laughter. The month before a herd of Numemon had accidently ran over Palmon when she was getting some water from a river. We weren't sure what had happened, so we went in prepared for anything. Needless to say just getting a look at WarGreymon and Imperialdramon ready for action had caused the Numemon to run for their lives, and all of us digidestined to collapse with laughter.

Oh yea! I forgot to fill you guys in on one thing. When my emotions and my body were separated my Crest was reformed, along with all of its powers, which means that my digimon partner Agumon regained the power to reach his Ultimate and Mega levels, allowing me to help out the younger digidestined if they got into a serious fight. Unfortunately none of the other digidestined had been able to find their Crests, so I was the only one from the original digidestined able to bring my digimon up to full power. Gennai didn't have any explanation as to why my Crest and no one else's was returned, but I've never been one to not accept a gift, especially one as useful as this, so I wasn't complaining.

Ok, back to our car ride, which was just ending. All of the people in my car seemed cheered up, so I marked that as a victory for me and my wonderful leadership skills. The four of us headed up the stairs, Sora grabbing ahold of my hand as we headed up towards Izzy's floor. After four months of dating Sora I'd finally gotten used to all of the little things she did, and I did in return, as a couple.

We weren't an over affectionate couple, most of the time at least, earlier wasn't a very good example, it was more like we were the best of friends, who also held hand and, usually when no one was around, kissed. Really I couldn't have asked for more, since I had my best friend and the love of my life all at once.

The four of us got to Izzy's apartment, and Davis knocked on the door. Hopefully Izzy would just let us in without needing some silly password like he had during the battle with Armageddemon. Luckily for us Izzy's mother answered the door and let us in.

We headed straight for Izzy's room, where he did make us use a password.

As Davis knocks on the door we hear a muffled voice ask, "Pro-?"

"Izzy, who else is going to be on the other side of the door? Just let us in!" I say, banging on the door once more.

"Just answer the password Tai!" The voice responds.

"See! You know it's me!" I say, grinning in triumph. Sora is shaking her head and looking away, while Davis nods enthusiastically and Kari copies Sora. The door remains closed and I finally get fed up with it. I could be stubborn with Izzy, but I had other things I wanted to do tonight. "-Digious!"

The door opened a crack and I forced my way into the room, giving Izzy a slight glare. I knew he meant well, I just didn't like having to talk to a door to get into a room.

"Tai!" A voice shouts and my digimon partner, Koromon, jumps into my arms. All of our digimon were in their In-Training states, partially to save energy on their parts and partially to save space.

"Hey Koromon, what's all the fuss about?" I ask my partner, who glances at Izzy.

"Let's wait until the others arrive Tai." Izzy said, and I nod. Once upon a time I would have argued that we, or more specifically I, should have the information now, but I'd grown up a bit and could wait.

Sora, Davis, and Kari all entered the room after me, and were greeted just as enthusiastically as I was by their partners, Davis especially. DemiVeemon really was a little bouncing ball of energy, even more than most In-Training digimon.

I sat down at one of the chairs Izzy had in his room and said hi to the other three digidestined in the room. Joe Kido, Mimi Tachikawa, and Cody Hida all greeted me back and asked about the soccer game.

I didn't go into details since I knew the three of them didn't like soccer that much, which is why they had volunteered to watch all twelve of the digimon, who could be quite a handful. We all chatted for a few minutes, catching up with the three digidestined who were the most isolated from the rest of us while Izzy did something with his computer.

None of us meant to isolate Joe, Mimi, or Cody; they all simply went to different schools. Joe was in college and on a different schedule from the rest of us, not to mention busy with his college classes. Cody was stuck in middle school since he was the youngest of the digidestined, which meant he was only seen on the weekends or the occasional weekday when everyone got out at the same time. Finally Mimi lived in America, and even with the digiport transport system, she couldn't visit too often.

Before long there was another knock on the door, and Izzy turned towards it and asked "Pro-?"

I mumbled about the stupidity of the whole thing under my breath, and I'm pretty sure Izzy didn't hear me.

I heard what sounded like a sigh from the other side of the door, and then Matt's muffled voice answered "-Digious."

Izzy moved and opened the door, allowing Matt, T.K., Ken, and Yolei to enter the room. "Ok, now that everyone is here, I can fill you guys in."

Everyone found their seats fairly quickly and Izzy turned his computer screen around so it was facing the entire room. I was sitting on Izzy's bed in between Sora and Davis, while Kari and T.K. were on the opposite side of Davis. Matt was on the other side of Sora, and that was everyone sitting on, or rather squeezed onto, the bed. Joe and Mimi were in chairs next to Izzy, while Ken, Yolei and Cody all sat on the floor opposite from Izzy's computer. Everyone's partners were pretty much sitting on their laps, except DemiVeemon, who was sitting on Davis's head.

"OK, Izzy, what's the big emergency?" I ask the question that is on (nearly) everyone's mind.

Izzy opened the program on his computer and it showed the continent of Server, a location familiar to all of us older digidestined.

"In the last three days there have been reports of attacks against some of the villages in this area." Izzy said, highlighting the area in question. "Gennai has asked us to check it out."

"That's the big emergency?" Yolei said, and frankly I agreed. Every one of us had thought there had been some serious attack against the digital world thanks to Izzy's text message, even me. I had actually been just as worried as the others during the car ride, I had just been trying to cheer everyone up instead of acting worried, and to find out it was something this minor was, well frustrating.

"Yolei, I know this seems minor, but Gennai thinks it could be bigger and related to the Parasimon incident four months ago." Izzy replied, grabbing everyone's attention. The Parasimon were the digimon that had managed to gain control of Matt and Davis, using them against the rest of the digidestined four months ago when they had been trying to find me in the digital world.

"Why's that Izzy?" Davis asked a serious look on his face.

"It's only a few sectors away from the sector where all of that happened, and there are quite a few of the same energy signals being detected in that area." Izzy said, pressing another button on his computer, and several graphs showing things incomprehensible to me, appeared near the blinking lights showing the locations of villages. "I think this needs to be checked out."

Everyone was silent for a moment, and I knew I had to weigh in my opinion on this. None of us wanted to deal with this problem, but we had a responsibility as the digidestined to deal with it and help the digital world in any way possible.

"Izzy's right." I declared, and everyone turned to me. "I know we really don't want to deal with this, especially since it seems rather trivial, but it's our responsibility to deal with this."

Everyone looked at me, and slowly nodded. _There that wasn't that hard._ I think in triumph.

"Ok, well go tomorrow since it's rather late…" Izzy started off, and everyone suddenly started talking at once.

"Tomorrow!"

"Izzy! I can't make it that soon!"

"I already had plans!"

"IZZY!"

Izzy shrank back as just about everyone started complaining at once, and I sighed. Izzy should have known better. Several of us had already made plans to go camping the next day, and just about everyone else was busy.

_Well, that didn't end well._ I think to myself, _there has to be a way to get this fixed…_ I think for a few seconds as the complaints continue, then get a sudden idea. It should be a small problem right? Something Agumon and I could probably handle on our own, and quickly!

"Everyone! Quiet!" I shout, causing everyone to settle down quickly. As soon as I have everyone's attention I stand up from the bed and face everyone. "I'll take care of this problem."

"What?" Izzy says before anyone else can respond.

"Well, everyone has plans already for tomorrow, so I'll just go on my own and take care of this. I'll have Agumon and my Crest with me, so I should be able to deal with a small problem like this!" I reply, and Koromon jumps up.

"Yea! We can handle this!"

"But Tai! You're supposed to come camping with us!" Sora says from the bed, while Kari, T.K., Davis, and Matt all nod.

Since the AJHST started during the second week of winter break, Sora, Matt, Davis, Kari, T.K. and I had all planned to have a big camping trip out in the woods near Mt. Fuji the first wekk, just to get some relaxing in before the tournament started up.

"And I still will!" I reply with a smile. "I can probably wrap things up in the digital world, and still beat you guys there if you're driving in Matt's van!"

"Hey!" Matt said as just about everyone in the room snorted with laughter.

"And don't say you guys will wait for me, I'll take care of this little problem, and then we can all go back to our lives." I said my lopsided grin on my face as I looked at all of the digidestined.

"Tai are you sure?" Ken asked as he stood up from where he was sitting.

"Yea Ken, it's just finding some dumb virus champion that wanted to mess with a bunch of In-training digimon, MetalGreymon will make him think twice about doing that when he'd reborn." I reply confidently. "Everyone has plans, and you shouldn't have to ruin them over a small matter like this. So everyone go enjoy yourselves and I'll take care of this."

_There, hopefully they won't argue anymore._ I think to myself, hoping my friends wouldn't try to out stubborn me.

"Tai, don't you have plans too?" Joe asks from his seat next to Izzy.

"Yea Joe, but I'm the leader, this is my responsibility!" I reply, and everyone seems to finally accept my offer.

_Good, it's about time._ I think with relief.

"Ok, now that's settled, let's get on to more important thing! Like dinner!" I shout, and Davis and all of the digimon cheer with me.

We spend the rest of the night in Izzy's apartment having picked up a bunch of frozen pizzas from Yolei's convenience store to replace the store made ones we could no longer get. It was a really fun time, especially catching up with all of the digidestined who hadn't been around for a while. Eventually we made plans to have everyone come out and meet us at the cabin we would be staying at for our trip, that way it'd be like a huge digidestined reunion.

Around eleven everyone headed out as Mrs. Izumi needed all of us out of the apartment, and I headed straight to our apartment complex. Davis was spending the night with us so we wouldn't have to pick him up in the morning. Sora and I had tried to convince our parents to let Sora stay the night as well, but they thought the two of us sleeping in the same apartment would be a bad idea. I was almost disappointed that our parents had so little trust in us.

I walked Sora back up to her apartment while Kari, Davis, and T.K. (who had arrived with Matt, and would be staying in his apartment) all went to our apartment to watch a movie. Usually Sora and I would join them, but I planned on getting to the digital world early in the morning and dealing with the problem so I could make the camping trip on time.

We both slowly walk up to her door, surrounded in a comfortable silence, you know the type I'm talking about, the kind between two best friends who know no words are needed at that moment.

We stop at her door, and I flash Sora my grin. "So it looks like you'll have to ride in Matt's old van tomorrow."

"You know Tai; I could just stay and help you…" Sora tells me, and I shake my head.

"It's fine Sor, this'll be a really easy problem, and you should go have a fun time with everyone." I tell her.

"But what if I just want to be with you?" She asks, and I can't help but be happy. I mean who isn't happy when the woman they love asks them that?

"You should still go with everyone else, if nothing else than to not abandon Kari to all of the guys," I tell her with a smile, and she nods. I'm really glad Sora understands me so well, because with any other girl they probably would have taken that as an attempt to get rid of her. Sora knew me better. She understood that her having fun, and a good time was very important to me, and that I could be very stubborn about it.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow afternoon then." Sora says, leaning forward. We kiss on her doorstep, just a simple goodnight kiss, and then break apart.

"I love you." I tell her simply, and she smile and replies,

"I love you too."

~The Next Morning~

The next morning I woke up rather slowly. Davis and DemiVeemon were snoring rather loudly on the floor of my room and I step gingerly over them. They wouldn't wake up until DemiVeemon started to get hungry so I left them for now. In the living room I could see Kari and T.K. asleep, arm in arm on the sofa where they had fallen asleep the night before and had to grin. So much for T.K. not sleeping over, mom would probably flip.

_Should I wake T.K. up to save them from mom's wrath? _I thought to myself looking at them. _I should…after I get a picture for blackmail! Hahahaha!_ I pull out my phone and snap a picture of the two, send it to Sora since she would get a good laugh from the blackmail picture, and then slowly wake T.K. up.

"Huh? Wassgoinon?" He asks groggily, then sees me standing over him, and feels my sister next to him. T.K. visibly gulps, and I smile.

"Time for you to go home T.K., before my parents find you here." I tell the younger boy who nods, and slowly untangles himself from a deeply sleeping Kari, and heads out the door, a sleeping Tokomon under his arm.

For my part I get ready for my morning in the digital world, pulling out the clothes I was going to wear, one of my (many) blue shirts, with a longer one underneath to combat the cold, and a pair of dark brown pants. My goggles were the next part of my outfit, since I couldn't very well go anywhere without them, and finally my Crest. Next I woke up the sleeping Koromon and we were ready to go. I opened up the digiport program on my computer, and held up my digivice.

Luckily Izzy had found a way to allow us older digidestined's digivices to open up the digiports on the computer so we could all access the digital world when we needed to without bothering the younger digidestined everytime.

In a second I and Koromon were sucked up by the screen, and then I was lying on the ground with Agumon sitting on my chest.

"Agumon, you want to get off me?" I wheezed as Agumon was crushing the breath out of me.

"Sorry Tai!" Agumon exclaimed as he rolled of me, and I just laughed a bit.

"It's not your fault. I really just wish Izzy would just figure out a way for us to not land so awkwardly." I told him, and it was the truth. You'd think that someone as smart as Izzy could figure out how to make the landings in the digital world a little less awkward and uncomfortable.

The two of us stood looking around and Agumon asked the obvious question.

"So..um Tai? Where do we go now?" He asked, since he didn't happen to know where any of the villages were.

"Hold on a second, let my check my map." I tell him, reaching into my pants cargo pocket looking for the map I'd printed out of this sector of the digital world.

"Tai is this map like the one you made on File Island? Because I don't think it'll help us then…" Agumon said, trailing off as I glared at him.

"You mean the map that you burned and we never got to use?" I ask quietly, and Agumon gulps nodding. "Nope, I printed this one off the computer, so it should be useful." I'm grinning now as Agumon lets out a sigh of relief that I'm not actually still mad over my long lost map.

I take a few minutes to orient myself and find the marked digiport TV on the map where we arrived. As soon as I do that I can see we aren't too far from one of the villages that hasn't been bothered yet.

"Ok Agumon, we're going to check out a village, it's that way!" I tell my partner, pointing in the general direction of the village, and then starting to walk that way, Agumon a few feet behind me.

The two of us chat as we walk and I tell Agumon all about the soccer game. He's really taken to soccer in the last few months. I don't know if it's because it's one of the biggest things I'm doing outside of school or if he genuinely was starting to like the sport, but he always wanted to hear about my games. I hadn't had the time last night since there had been to many people, and digimon, to give an in depth play by play of the game.

That entertained the two of us for the couple of hours that it took for us to arrive at the village, which turned out to be a Poromon village with a Hawkmon in charge of them all. I spent some time talking to the Hawkmon while Agumon played around with the little In-Training digimon.

"So you don't have any idea what's been happening at the other villages?" I ask towards the end of our conversation. This Hawkmon had been far too busy taking care of the Poromon to really be bothered by things happening outside the village.

"No, though a couple of days ago one of the Poromon told me he saw smoke rising in the east." Hawkmon replied and I nodded, thinking about the map. There was another village not too far to the east of this village.

"Ok thanks, we'll check it out." I tell the Hawkmon who nods and heads out to where most of the Poromon and formed a pile on top of Agumon.

"Tai! Help!" I hear a muffled shout from the bottom of the pile and have to laugh. Agumon seemed to finally have had too much fun. Hawkmon acted quickly getting all the Poromon off of Agumon who was still lying on the ground when they got off of him.

"Come on Agumon, we're going to check on another village." I tell Agumon, reaching down and pulling him to his feet.

"Ok, but no more Poromon!" Agumon exclaimed, and I let out a laugh.

"Hellfire!" There was a sudden shout that caused me to look up from Agumon, just as dozens of explosions destroy half of the village. I dive for cover as they continue across the central square Agumon and I are in.

"AGUMON!" I shout holding out my digivice.

"Agumon digivolve to! Greymon!" Agumon was transformed from his small yellow lizard form into a giant orange dinosaur with blue stripes running all over his body.

A deep growl could be heard in Greymon's throat as he turned towards the source of the explosions. I couldn't see anything for a second as the smoke left over from the explosions was blocking everything from sight, then the attacker started to move forward.

It was a man shaped digimon wearing what looked like a pin striped suit, like some mobster from an American movie. His face was covered in some sort of mask, and in his right arm he carried some sort of gun, which was still smoking from its earlier use.

"Get him Greymon!" I shout to my partner, who nods, charging up a fireball in his mouth.

"Nova Blast!" He shouts as he lets out a giant fireball, right at the digimon, who simply stops walking forward. The fire ball got closer to him, and then impacted, covering him once again in a massive amount of smoke.

"Alright Greymon!" I shout, throwing a fist into the air in triumph.

"Maverick!" A shout is heard, just before the digimon lands a kick right on Greymon's chest, sending him flying into one of the Poromon village's buildings. There was a sick crunching sound as Greymon's body completely destroyed the building. I winced as that happened.

_Ops, so much for protecting the village._ I think with a wince.

"Greymon!" I shout out to my partner as he slowly rises from the wreckage of the building.

"Maverick!" The digimon flies in again throwing Greymon to the far side of the central square.

"Greymon!" I shout again, feeling useless as my partner is thrown around like a rag doll. I look around for anything that could allow me to help out Greymon, and spy several rocks lying on the ground. I quickly pick them and turn towards the digimon, who is advancing towards the struggling Greymon.

"Hey you! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" I shout as I throw one of the rocks at the digimon. I'm a soccer player, not a baseball player, so the first rock flies right past its head, but the second one manages to hit the digimon right on his head.

That causes him to turn from Greymon right to me. _Uh oh…_ I think as the powerful digimon starts walking towards me.

"So who is someone my size boy? Because you certainly aren't." He declares, and I glare at him, winding my arm up again. The rock hits him right in the forehead. I don't know why he didn't dodge the rock, but it certainly pissed him off a bunch more.

He jumped straight into the air, flying far higher than I had seen him do before, and was heading straight for me. _Oh great…_ I think just as my Crest lets out a bright orange light.

"Greymon digivolve to! MetalGreymon! Ragh!" Greymon was suddenly covered in metal armor, his head completely covered in it, while his left arm was now mechanical. His chest had what looked like a pair of doors on it and he had purple wings.

"Mega Claw!" Seconds before the digimon would have landed right on top of me MetalGreymon's metal claw hit him, and sent him crashing into another of the buildings in the village. The building splintered from the force of the digimon crashing into it. MetalGreymon stood behind me, retracting his metal claw.

"Finish him off MetalGreymon!" I shout, trying not to let any of the fear that was running through me color my voice. Yea I know what your all thinking, how could I be scared? Well a couple of things you should know, one I'm scared all the time, Courage is finding the ability to overcome that fear and press on. Second this was the first digimon who had actually tried to kill a human in a number of years, so I was understandably a little frightened.

"Right!" MetalGreymon replied, drawing energy into his chest. "Giga Blaster!" The two doors on his chest opened up revealing a pair of powerful looking missiles which proceeded to fire out towards the destroyed building. The missiles raced through the air, gaining speed just as they impacted.

The explosion caused by their impact was massive. Almost a quarter of the Poromon village was destroyed by their detonation, and the location where they hit was now just a crater. I actually had to hold onto MetalGreymon's leg to be kept from being blown away.

As the winds from the explosion dies down I slowly let go of MetalGreymon's leg, and look around. I can clearly see the crater caused by the attack, and breathe a sigh of relief. The digimon was defeated, even if it had taken more than I expected.

"Hellfire!" There were explosions all around MetalGreymon and I, and I'm pretty sure they were hitting him since he let out several shouts of pain. I could literally see the ground in front of me exploding.

MetalGreymon was forced to his knees as the attack continued to hit him, finally dedigivolving into Agumon and collapsing next to me. Luckily the attack seemed to stop as MetalGreymon returned to Agumon. I looked around, trying to find the digimon, but he found me first. I felt a foot hit my stomach and I was thrown across the village, into one of the remaining buildings.

My entire body was shot through with pain as the building stopped all of my momentum from being thrown across the square and I let out a gasp from the pain as I hear several loud cracks. I slid down from the wall of the building and landed on my knees. I took a second to breathe, and then forced myself to my feet. I had to get up and I had to get to Agumon before the digimon did something to him.

"I'm coming Agumon…" I say through gritted teeth.

"Here, let me help you!" A voice says from right behind me before I'm thrown right back into the center of the square. I can hardly breathe now as the wind was knocked out of me, and I'm pretty sure I've got some broken ribs, and something else as there was another crack, much louder than the first one. I can't tell very easily since my entire body hurts, and I'm barely retaining consciousness.

I feel cold steel press into the back of my neck, and I'm flipped over. The digimon has his gun pointed right into my chest, ready to pull the trigger. All of this is so sudden I can't even comprehend what's about to happen.

"Astamon!" a vaguely familiar voice called out, and the digimon pulled the gun from my chest. "Leave him; it's more important for the next act that he live." The voice started to laugh, and something about that laugh seemed familiar, but I was already fading out of consciousness. That laugh was the last thing I heard before everything went dark.

_OH NO! Tai! Will Tai live? And even more horrible, a really big cliffhanger! NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Ok, end excess energy wasting. Hope everyone enjoyed that chapter. Let me know what you thought, good or bad. Just click that nice review button down below my A/N. It makes everyone happier =). Until next time!_

_Reviewers Corner (oh yea and if you review I reply back! Isn't that great? So you can ask questions and stuff! Ok enough talking about reviews now)_

_Melodisz: Thanks a bunch! And yea, I bet that would have been just a little bit confusing lol. And thanks again! I'll do my best to keep it up! And also keep trying! You'll get it! I have the opposite problem, I can't write one shots…they all turn into longer things lol, but keep trying!_

_TaioraWarrior: Thank you, and yea the bad dude…you can start guessing, cause guessing games are fun. I will tell you though, don't rule anyone (other than Myotismon who I said it wasn't back in Somewhere I Belong) out. Think about the little snippets you've gotten from the bad guy, I think I left it so it could be figureoutable. And I'll try! No promises that it'll be great though, I still don't think I'm very good at the whole gussy moments thing…and actually it's Cody next! Hahahahaha. I did think it was funny, so good stuff!_

_crestoflight3: Thanks! And was the chapter surprising enough?_

_Ellabell: Thanks! And every Sunday!_

_DephsXylex: Thanks! And I know! Poor Davis….I'm just going to say that he did manage to get a slice before being dragged out of the restaurant, just to keep him happy! Lol_

_Lachelle92: Thanks! And no, fan girls are definitely FTW, unless your Matt or Davis lol. Did the emergency measure up to your expectations?_


	3. Tai Sense Tingling

_Ok, and here we are, chapter three…nothing that special to say up here, so HERE WE GO!_

_Disclaimer: I can has digimon? No? =(_

**Chapter 3 Tai Sense Tingling**

_Sora_

I walked up to the Kamiya's door, and slowly opened the door to let myself in. The Kamiya's had been just letting me into their apartment for years so it was nothing new, especially since I was usually over at their apartment every day. As I entered the apartment, Yokomon sticking out of the backpack I had filled with everything I would need for the camping trip, Kari waved at me from the kitchen table. Both Salamon and DemiVeemon were sitting on the table, digging into the food that had been prepared for them.

With Tai gone it looked like the food was just going to be cereal today. Tai was the cook of the Kamiya family (well for himself, Kari, and Mr. Kamiya, Mrs. Kamiya still attempted to make some of her healthy recipes most days) so with him gone it was either cereal or one of Mrs. Kamiya's breakfasts, which I'd tried to many times.

"Good morning Kari!" I said cheerfully, Kari shook her head at my cheerfulness. She'd never been much of a morning person, much like her brother, so she wasn't that cheerful.

"Morning Sora." Kari said gesturing towards the chair across from her, which I proceed to sit in. Kari gestures towards the cereal next, but I shake my head, I'd gotten food from my apartment before heading down to the Kamiya's apartment. We'd all agreed to meet here since it was the one closest to the bottom floor of our apartment complex, so therefore it was a logical place to meet.

"Where's Davis?" I ask and Kari opens her mouth, just as there is a crash and a rather loud curse from the direction of Tai and Kari's room.

"Why the hell is that in the middle of my floor? When did I get on the floor? When did I get bunk beds? Oh…" Davis's voice can be heard saying all of that and trailing off as he seemed to realize he wasn't in his apartment.

I stifle a giggle, and I can tell Kari is doing the same. "I guess Davis isn't much of a morning person either." I say and Kari nods as she laughs more. Davis comes out of the Kamiya's bedroom rubbing his head. His goggles, the pair he'd bought to replace the one's he'd broken on his first day in the digital world, were around his neck, not in their usual position on his head.

"Why do we have to get up this early again?" Davis asks in a sullen voice as he sits down next to the two digimon and pulls the cereal over towards him.

"Davis, it's already after nine. If we waited any longer to leave we'd get stuck in all the traffic at mid-day and never get to the camp site." Kari replied, and Davis nodded groggily. He really wasn't a morning person in the least.

Well he was doing better than Tai on some mornings, like the time I'd been forced to get the bucket of water to get him out of bed…

"What happened to T.K.?" Davis asked, looking around and interrupting my thoughts.

"Whadya mean? He went to Matt's place last night." Kari said quickly, a little too quickly. I shot a glance at her though she was looking very intently at her cereal.

"I thought the two of you fffffeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllll asleep on the couch?" Davis asked as he opened his mouth for a huge yawn.

"Um…" Kari started almost as if she was looking for some sort of excuse. "He left after you went to bed…"

I looked at Kari suspiciously, but she wouldn't meet my eye, so I had no way of telling if she was lying or not, though the fact that she was burying her face suggested she was lying. I shrugged and pulled out my phone, thinking I should ask Matt if T.K. had made it to his apartment when I noticed a text from Tai.

It was a picture message, with a picture of a sleeping T.K. and Kari, along with a nice little message.

**Look what I found on my sofa this morning =) love you, see you soon! =)**

I smirk, and decide to have some fun messing with Kari.

"Kari look at this nice photograph that Tai sent me." I tell her, holding my phone up to her face. She gets one good look at the picture and freezes. 'It's such a cute photo don't you think?" I ask her as her face turns a very interesting shade of red.

I can't help but laugh, and the situation only grows funnier as Matt and T.K. walk into the apartment at that very moment. They both greet the three of us, and everyone stands up to leave. I take that opportunity to show Matt the photograph, and Kari's face only gets more red.

I don't know why she was so embarrassed by this little photo, after all it's not like she and T.K. were doing anything, they had just fallen asleep on the sofa. Tai and I had done that hundreds of time just over the last four months. Then I had to remember it was Kari, sweet and innocent little Kari. She probably figured everyone would jump to all sorts of conclusions, or that falling asleep on your boyfriend was dirty.

Silly Kari.

"So this is why T.K. was late getting to your house." I tell Matt, and T.K. seemed to have caught on to what was going on, because his eyes widened as Matt looked at the picture.

"Hmmm." Matt said as he looked at the picture, and then turned to T.K. "Your just lucky Tai didn't have Agumon attack you on the spot." Matt said with a laugh as both of the younger siblings faces turned red again.

Davis didn't really seem to know what was going on, because he still looked like he was asleep, on his feet, but I suppose that was a good thing. Tai would probably want to save that picture to blackmail Kari one day, and if everyone knew, that wouldn't work so well.

"Ok, I think that's enough embarrassment at their expense, let's get this trip started!" I declare, pointing towards the door. Matt laughs again and nods, leading the way out of the apartment.

As soon as we get into the car, Davis immediately curls into a little ball and starts sleeping. The four In-Training digimon all curl up around him and go to sleep as well, while Salamon curls up on top of Davis. Kari, Matt, T.K., and I talk the entire trip out to the cabin.

Matt's dad had arranged for us to use the same cabin that the guys had used during the younger digidestined's final assault on the digimon emperor's base, so it was about an hour outside of town. Despite the fact that we were in Matt's van it didn't take us that long to get out to the cabin, much to the sleeping Davis's disappointment, not to mention the digimon.

"Come on Davis!" T.K. said shaking the goggleheaded boy, trying to wake him up as the rest of us pulled the luggage out of the van.

Davis's only response was to let out a loud snore.

"T.K., just leave him, when he wakes up he'll come in. Come help me with these bags." Matt said to T.K. while he was buried under five separate suitcases.

"You know Matt, if you hadn't brought all of that stuff you probably wouldn't need T.K.'s help." I tell Matt with a laugh as I pick up my backpack. Matt had packed far too much stuff for this trip. Those suitcases really were his. Usually Tai and I would take the time to mock his over packing, and I almost did expect Tai to jump in with a joke about hair care products.

I could almost hear what he would say_…"Don't mock him just because he needs three suitcases for his hair products!"_ Man, I really missed having Tai here with me. This was the first time in nearly four months that we'd spent a good amount of time apart when it couldn't be helped. Usually we spent a couple of hours apart at school and afterwards during our different practices, but that was the extent of our time apart. That was one of the advantages of living only a few floors away from your best friend, and the man you loved, you got to see him all the time.

"Hey! Two of these are T.K.'s!" Matt said indignantly and I had to laugh.

"Geez Matt, you two are the most high maintenance men I've ever met." I tell him as we all walk into the cabin.

The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent unpacking. Kari and I were sharing a room, while the boys were split between two rooms. It actually turned out that Matt only had one suitcase for hair products, and one for clothes. The other was filled with a bunch of movies and board games to entertain everyone for the week we would be spending out here.

After all of our stuff was unpacked we decided to put in a movie to pass the time until Tai arrived, so that's how our afternoon went. I was honestly starting to get a little anxious. I didn't really expect Tai to get to the cabin as soon as he had said, after all he had to find the digimon, then fight it, so I expected it to take a few hours in the digital world, but still we should have heard something from him by now.

Soon after the movie had finished I started to feel very uneasy. I couldn't really explain it, but I felt that something was wrong. Back when we were kids our parents always used to say that Tai and I were connected, somehow we would always know when the other was in trouble. I had the same feeling right now about Tai, so I went into the little kitchen area and pulled out my phone. We actually got service all the way out here, so when I called Tai's phone I was surprised when it went straight to his voicemail.

_How can he not even be back yet?_ I wonder to myself. _Maybe I should call Izzy…_

"Sora! Come on were going to play Monopoly!" Kari shouted from the cabin's living room, and I looked out there. _Ok, calm down, Tai can take care of himself, he's ok. What digimon can mess with him and Agumon anyway?_ I tell myself to calm my nerves.

"Coming!" I shout back and join in the board game.

~later that day~

I paced around the outside of the cabin we were staying at again, despite the biting cold and the fact that it was getting dark. The fact that it was getting dark was the reason I was pacing outside of the cabin. Tai should have been here by now, and I was even more concerned. Despite what I had told myself earlier he still wasn't picking up his phone. In fact from what I could tell he wasn't even in the real world at all. Not to mention my little 'Tai Sense' was still bugging me.

_Ok, just call Izzy and have him check on Tai._ I tell myself, pulling my phone out. The phone rings as I wait for Izzy to pick up, and continue my pacing. All four of my friends are sitting on the porch of the cabin watching me. They're not saying anything, but I know their starting to get concerned for Tai too.

Izzy finally picks up.

"Hello?"

"Izzy?"

"Yea, Sora is that you? How's the trip going?"

"Just fine Izzy, look, Tai hasn't shown up yet and we were wondering if you could do a quick search for him in the digital world, just make sure he's ok."

"Yea, sure thing Sora, let me just get to my computer and boot it up."

I'm a little shocked as Izzy says that. Him, not at his computer, and it's not even on?

"Izzy, since when are you not on your computer?" I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Well, I had Joe, Mimi, Cody, Ken, and Yolei come over and well…" Izzy paused here for a second then continued. "Mimi kinda told me not to get on the computer or else."

I laughed as he said that. I could just imagine Mimi scaring Izzy out of using his computer while she was visiting.

"Well Izzy, at least we all know a way to get you off your computer somehow." I tell Izzy with a laugh, and hear a mumbled reply. A couple of seconds pass where the only thing I can hear is a furious typing of keys, then Izzy gets back on the line.

"Sora, there may be a problem." My heart stops as he says this, and I guess my entire body stiffened, because all four of the others were right next to me in a second. "I've got Tai's digivice located, but it's not moving at all, and from what I can tell of the data in the area it's heavily damaged, like a battle took place there, a really big one."

I swallow and I feel a giant hole in my stomach. A battle big enough for the damage to register on Izzy's computer, and Tai wasn't moving?

"Sora?" Kari asked from next to me, obviously not liking the look that was on my face. I take a deep breath, and hold up a finger to tell Kari one second.

"Izzy, can you tell me the coordinates for that area? We're going to go check it out." I tell Izzy, and see Kari, Matt and T.K. all stiffen. Davis seems frozen for a second, and then goes to Matt's car. I watch him as I wait for Izzy to give me the coordinates, and I see Davis pulling out the laptop we'd brought, just in case we needed to go to the digital world. That caused me to smile a bit, Davis was thinking ahead, which was good to see.

"Um…Sora?" Izzy asked after a couple of seconds.

"Yea Izzy?"

"Are you sure you want to do this, it could be dangerous…"

"Izzy, Tai could be hurt, or still in danger, and need our help; we're going, so give us the coordinates." I nearly shout into the phone. I know that Izzy was just trying to look out for us, but he had no idea how I felt, to not know if Tai was hurt or worse, that he could need my, our, help at this very second, I just couldn't stand that.

"Ok, ok, here's the coordinates…" Izzy replies, giving me the coordinates as Davis holds the laptop for me.

"Thanks Izzy. If Tai's hurt we may have to come to your apartment, there's no hospital out here." I tell Izzy, and I'm sure he nodded on the other side.

"Ok Sora, I'll be monitoring you guys."

"Thanks Izzy." I hang up the phone and turn to the others. Davis has DemiVeemon on his head and is looking at the computer intently, while the others are looking at me.

"Tai, he.." I struggle to find the words to explain everything, or at least to vocalize them. It's almost as if saying that he may be hurt or worse would make it more real. "…He may be in trouble." I finish, and I think that the others understand. I can't actually vocalize what could have happened to him, he had to be ok.

Kari looked like she was about to lose it, actually seeming to know what I was not saying. T.K. noticed this as well and put his arm around Kari. Matt was standing next to me, and looked at me arching an eyebrow, and I just gave him a look. Matt was a great friend, but I didn't need comfort at that moment; I needed to get to Tai. He simply held his hands in the air as I gave him the look, and I smiled, slightly, in thanks for his understanding.

I stepped up next to Davis, who looked at me.

"Tai will be fine Sora, just watch." Davis told me, a small smile on his face, I returned it, and felt Matt stepping up next to me.

"Ok, well, let's go get him!" Matt said confidently, holding his digivice up to the laptop.

"Digiport open!" Davis shouted as Kari and T.K. joined us and we were all transported into the digital world.

Izzy had done almost too good of a job getting us close to Tai's location. We landed in the middle of a desolate landscape. The trees around us were broken and many had fallen over. The ground was covered with craters. There were fires burning in parts of the former forest, where the trees were still standing.

I gasped as I took in the landscape, and I could feel all of the others having a similar reaction. We'd seen the digital world damaged too many times, but never devastated like this.

"What happened here?" Matt asked as he stepped away from the group.

"I don't know, but it couldn't have been good for anyone." Davis replied, taking up a position watching our backs.

"Sora, was Tai here?" Kari asked, very very quietly, and I turned to her.

"I think so Kari." I tell her, and I'm getting more scared the more I look at this landscape. If Tai had been here when all of this damage had been caused what happened to him? Was he fighting something and this was the aftermath of the battle, or did this happen after the battle?

"I've got a signal for Tai's digivice!" Matt suddenly called, and I was at his side in a second, my digivice out as well. The five of us are a single large blinking light, while there is a much smaller one blinking a little ways away from us.

"Let's go." I simply say, taking off in the direction the signal was coming from, Biyomon flying right behind me. Davis was keeping up with me very easily, while the other three were lagging slightly behind. I slowed my pace as I hit the edge of the village, or rather the former edge of the village.

What must have been a rather normal looking digimon village seemed to contain Tai's signal as well as the worst damage. The many buildings that had once been standing in this village were mostly splinters covering the ground. Occasionally there would be a wall or two standing, maybe even a door, but almost all of the buildings were destroyed.

"Oh my." I say simply as I come to a complete halt. When we'd been told about attacks against villages I hadn't imagined anything like this. It was pure destruction, something I'd expect to see in a war zone not the digital world.

The five of us stopped in a small cluster with our digimon, all unable to move because of the sheer destruction around us. Gabumon was the first to notice something.

_Sniff sniff_ "I think I smell a digimon!" Gabumon exclaimed as he sniffed the air.

"Is it Agumon?" I ask quickly, but Gabumon shakes his head.

"No, someone else…" Gabumon bares his teeth in a defensive gesture, towards the source of the smell.

The other four digimon all spread out in a defensive stance around us, when three digimon burst out of some of the wreckage. I immediately recognized them as Poromon, they must have been the inhabitants of this village.

They stopped as soon as they saw our digimon completely surrounding them, and cower down in fright.

"Wait!" Kari and I shout to the digimon, who had already been stopping their attacks. The three Poromon looked around as our digimon stopped.

"It's the digidestined!" One exclaimed, and all three of the Poromon all let out a sigh of relief. Kari and T.K. went up to the three Poromon, who accepted their comforting.

Matt, Davis and I continued looking around the village, and I couldn't help but be drawn once more towards Tai's signal. It led to the center of the village. I couldn't tell if it had been a square, or just a small break in the villages building because the worst devastation I had seen yet was here. One entire quarter of the village from the looks of things had been destroyed by a single attack from here, and it had left the biggest crater I had ever seen. Other portions of the town looked like their buildings had different digimon thrown into them at points, and in the center of the area it looked like a steady series of blasts had destroyed the ground around the center of the open area.

There were debris from all over the town that were scattered in this central open area, and right in the middle of all that devastation I could just barely make out a few patches of blue and yellow.

"Tai!" I shout, running as fast as I can towards the patches, which turned out to be a partially covered Tai Kamiya.

I try not to be sick as I get there. There's blood everywhere, and Tai is covered in cuts, many of which are still bleeding. Not only is he covered on blood, but the ground around him is too. _Shit!_ I think seeing the amount of blood.

I quickly drop down; ripping off the jacket I'm wearing to use it for bandages. Tai had already lost a lot of blood, maybe too much blood, and he couldn't afford to lose any more.

"Davis! Matt!" I shout over my shoulder towards the two boys who were still near the edge of the village center. I could hear both of them come running, but I'm hardly paying attention as I try to clean up Tai.

"Oh shit…" Matt says as he gets a look at Tai. Davis just drops to the other side, removing his jacket for the same reason as me.

"Matt…" I say as Davis and I cover most of Tai's still bleeding wounds. The blood from them is starting to soak the part of our jackets we covered them with. "…Get T.K. and Kari. We need to get Tai to a hospital, and Angemon will be the safest bet for moving him…"

I am completely surprised at the fact that I'm not breaking down. I guess the need to save Tai is just keeping my head clear, but it's still surprising. As Matt runs off, and Davis pulls Koromon out of the wreckage next to Tai, I clear the remainder of the wreckage off of Tai.

_I should have listened earlier today…_ I think to myself as I stare at Tai's broken body. _Just please let him be ok, and that'll never happen again…._

~Real World~

We managed to get Tai all the way back to a digiport and through it into Izzy's room. Needless to say us arriving there, with a heavily injured Tai and an unconscious Koromon was not something anyone was expecting. Luckily Joe seemed to remember some of his doctor training (and didn't faint at the sight of Tai's injuries) and got everyone down to his car.

Unfortunately only Kari and I could squeeze into Joe's car with him since he didn't have a school bus. The others said they would follow us, but we weren't really worrying about that, we just needed to get Tai to the hospital.

Luckily we were going to the hospital that Joe's father worked at so we were able to head straight into a room rather than waiting hours for something to open up in the emergency room. Kari and I were eventually shown out of the room as several different doctors all worked to help Tai.

The next few hours were some of the worst of my life. Kari and I were kept out in the waiting area as Tai was ushered into one of the back rooms. We couldn't get anything out of the doctors, so we were kept in the dark completely. Even Joe couldn't get anything out of the medical people, which was surprising.

We eventually had to deal with all of the people showing up. Davis had called Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya, and they managed to arrive before any of the other digidestined. They were just as stonewalled as Kari and I and ended up sitting with us in the waiting room.

Mr. Kamiya tried to comfort his wife and daughter, but had very little success at this, and I sat there alone. I couldn't very well intrude on the Kamiya family; they had to feel the same as I did. After a while Mrs. Kamiya started pacing around the waiting room, badgering anyone who came out of the back area where her son was currently being worked on.

The other digidestined showed up at some point, but I'm not really sure when. I was just staring at the door that led to the back area. I don't know how I wasn't crying, because I should have been, but I still had managed not to somehow. That didn't mean I was ok, far from it, I was just shutting everything out, only paying attention to that door. My tears could come later.

Eventually one of the doctors came out of the back area, and actually stopped to talk to the Kamiya parents, both of whom had rushed over the second he exited the door. That snapped me out of my daze in a hurry. I finally noticed the fact that Yolei was sitting on one side of me, while Matt was on the other side, since they both jumped up as I got out of my seat.

I took a couple of steps forward before stopping. This was a moment for the Kamiya's not me, I should just sit back down and wait. Before I can move I feel a hand on my arm, and look over to see Kari. She really doesn't look so good, and her eyes are red from crying. This has to be horrible for her. Tai and she were closer than close, and to see him like that had to be horrible. Of course I did know how that felt, but I still felt bad for Kari, she really was like the little sister I'd never had.

Kari actually smiles at me a little bit, and holds onto my arm, waiting with me. We can't hear a word the doctors are saying, and both of the Kamiya parent's backs are turned, so I can't judge anything from their expressions. I can feel the rest of the digidestined all gathering behind Kari and I, all of them waiting for news, just like us.

Finally Mr. Kamiya put an arm around Mrs. Kamiya, and the doctor turned away. My entire body froze at this exchange. _Why would she need to be comforted if that was good news…_

That thought had barely passed through my mind when both parents were standing in front of us. I forced myself to look up at both of them. Mrs. Kamiya had tears in her eyes, but Mr. Kamiya forced a smile.

"Tai…we can go see him now."

_OH no! another cliff hanger! Well, that wasn't fun at all. The digidestined in general and Tai in particular, just can never seem to catch a break. Oh well, we wouldn't have a story otherwise. So I guess that's it from me…until next week!_

_But wait! I actually have more! I've decided to bring back…chapter previews! Alright! Ok, so here's the preview for next week!_

"_**What kind of digimon does this?" Davis asked as we followed Sora into what had been the villages central square. The worst damage seemed to be here. **_

"_**Is…is…Tai going to be ok?" Kari asked in a broken tone.**_

_**The room was almost deathly quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the faint whirring of the machines around Tai and the beeping of the heart monitor hooked up to him. The room was only dimly lit and I could just make out Tai's shape on the bed.**_

_Ok, that was a really bad preview…sorry, it'll be better next time, I promise!_

_Review Replies_

_Punkagumon: lol thanks! And I'll keep it coming!_

_TaioraWarrior: Thanks! Other than the almost killing Tai part, I really enjoyed writing this chapter to, so I guess it was good for everyone! I'll try and keep that blend in there, because there is going to be A LOT more action before this fic is over, and I mean A LOT. And yea, I liked all of those scenes, bring back any memory from the show is always a goal for me, so I'm glad you enjoyed. Lol that is weird, I guess it's just that great minds think alike, that's the most reasonable explanation for that lol. The map was probably my favorite part, I wrote that scene that way just so I could get map in there, because map was freaking hilarious lol_

_Amaramichelle: Thanks! I'm glad you like it, and I will!_

_Appealtoreason: Yep, more action is this stories game. I wanted to do a bit of that after the first stories almost exclusive emotion/relationship focus. This one will be more rounded with A LOT more action._

_Lachelle92: lol thanks, and yea he is, and I didn't even have to make him up! FTW! Lol. And thanks!_

_OmegaMan133: Hey! And I'm glad you joined. Your reason is a very good one, and the same reason I joined way back when (5 months ago haha). Thanks for everything. I really do feel pretty much the same way as you. I'm not much of a writer(this is my first real experience with writing so I don't know a whole lot about character development and all that other stuff) but I did love the characters as a kid, and felt that more could be done with the,,. And I wanted to be the one to do it. Ok, continuing on…I laughed at the part about wanting to skip class. I usually want to do that to continue writing, but that's just cause I don't like my classes lol. I'm glad you were happy to find the sequel, I tried to make sure everyone could see there was one, I like my readers after all. Um last bit, I'm glad your excited, because honestly I'm excited about this story. Hopefully everyone will keep the excitement, and we'll all have a grand time. Until next time!_

_DephsXylex: lol well after you felt sorry for Davis, I did have to get you back to Tai…lol and yea, that's what happens when you're an author's favorite character, and the author doesn't want to just over power said character, they get picked on lol, though of course the being a good guy does contribute, at least with Tai…lol_


	4. Frozen into Action

So it's Sunday, and everyone knows exactly what that means…church time! And also time for an update. Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon. In fact I don't really own anything at all. It's kinda sad thinking about it…

**Chapter 4 Frozen into Action**

_Matt_

I watched as Sora paced around in the kitchen looking back and forth from the clock on the wall and her cell phone. You could literally feel her concern for Tai radiating from the kitchen. T.K. and Kari are chatting about something that I wasn't paying attention to, but Davis seemed to be paying as much attention to Sora as I was.

To be honest I was a tiny bit concerned myself. I know I shouldn't have been, after all as much as Tai had been boasting about fixing the problem in the digital world, and then beating us to the cabin I knew it would take some time to solve the problem. After all look at the situation, the digimon probably wouldn't want to run into one of the digidestined, so it's not like it would be in a really obvious place. Then after he found the monster he'd have to put it down, and knowing Tai he wouldn't just go straight to the mega level and wipe him out, he'd give the little bugger an even fight, having Agumon digivolve just to Greymon.

Yea, I know that sounds particularly dumb, but it was Tai. That's the way he worked, he couldn't do something the easy way unless a digimon was really asking for it.

Though I knew all of that we still should have heard something from Tai. By now even Tai would have realized that his mission was going to take longer than he assumed, and been apologizing to Sora. I know it sounds funny, but he tries really hard to always please Sora, and he would have been apologizing a hundred times through email, since that could cross the boundaries between worlds, to Sora, thinking she'd be angry with him.

Sora of course never was, but that never stopped Tai.

_Ok, this day is going to be a complete loss if Sora's worrying about Tai the whole time…time to use some of my friendship powers to get things back on track until Tai gets here…_ I think to myself, standing up, just as Sora opens her phone and dials it.

_Ok, so much for that._ I say, sitting down on the sofa. Sora probably wouldn't have listened to me anyways. Maybe she'd listen to Kari, if we were doing something, to take her mind off the whole situation.

"How do you guys feel about a board game now?" I ask the three around me. We'd just finished a movie so no one would be up for another one, plus Davis would most likely fall asleep and start snoring again if we watched another movie.

"Sure." Kari said, and my little brother, rather predictably, nodded enthusiastically after Kari said that. I had to stop from laughing at his reaction. T.K. really did like Kari, I would say love but he would never admit that, and would almost always go along with her decisions. I knew this was usually because they really did think alike, just like Tai and Sora, but it was too much fun not to tease him about always agreeing with Kari.

"Ok, but what're we gonna play?" Davis asked, standing up to look in the large suitcase T.K. and I had filled with as many board games and movies as we could find.

"How about Monopoly?" T.K. suggested, and Davis shrugged.

"Ok Monopoly it is." I decide for the group as Davis finds that game. "Kari, why don't you grab Sora, she probably won't come back on her own."

Kari nodded, calling into the kitchen as I went over to Davis and T.K., who were pulling out the board.

"Matt?" I hear a voice call from near my feet. I look down to see Tsunomon looking up at me. "What's Monopoly?"

Suddenly the other four digimon are all standing around Tsunomon looking up at me with curious expressions on their faces.

"Is it an eating game?" DemiVeemon asked from where he was standing next to Tsunomon, and I sighed. This was probably going to take a long time to get started with the digimon.

Sora chose this moment to enter the hall way I was standing in, and I seized my chance to escape.

"Why don't you guys ask Sora, she knows a lot more than I do about Monopoly." I tell the digimon, before turning back and dashing into the living room. Feel free to call me a coward, but if you do, you obviously have never had to deal with trying to teach digimon how to play a board game.

"Matt!" I heard Sora shouting after me, prompting me to get to the far side of the living room before Sora could get ahold of me. That was one of the many changes that Sora had from the time we were dating. She didn't feel any restraint in hitting me if she felt I did something wrong, similar to what she had always done to Tai. I was probably going to have a few bruises later in the day…

~Later that night~

Later that night we all watched Sora pacing out in front of the cabin, yet again looking at her cell phone. I know she'd sent multiple texts to Tai, but if he hadn't sent her an email, or called her, I don't see why she was expecting a text from him first.

To be honest every single one of us was really worried now. Tai had not sent us any sort of message, and he wasn't here. He'd said he was going to be here by early afternoon, and even if that was a little unrealistic, he should have been at least on his way here by now, I mean it was nearly nine! Something had to have sidetracked him in the digital world.

_He probably got run over by a herd of Numemon, that would be just his luck, and they probably smashed his phone. He'll be pulling up any minute now…_ I don't believe a single one of those thoughts, but I tell myself them anyways, in an attempt to keep from panic.

I'd always been one to keep my cool, in the digital world and here usually. Here in the real world I was able to keep my cool easily because I knew none of the challenges that I faced here could be anywhere as bad as the ones I faced in the digital world. But, in the digital world I'd kept my cool for a much different reason. Though we'd always argued, and gotten into quite a few fistfights, I always knew that Tai had my back, and together we could pull through anything that got in our way.

When you had someone as reliable as Tai was at your back, or rather, you were watching his back while he charged headfirst into some demon's lair, it was really easy to keep your cool.

Right now though I didn't have Tai to watch my back, in fact, he was the one who was in trouble, and I was surprised at how scared I was, not having Tai there to back me up.

Of course I wasn't the only person at the cabin who Tai meant a lot to. Kari, who Tai probably meant even more too, was starting to get a little upset herself. She knew the same things that I did, and she knew that Tai should have at least checked in by now. She wasn't as worried as Sora though, not yet at least.

T.K. was doing his best to keep her calm, probably one of the biggest reasons why she wasn't freaking out yet, so that was a good thing. Davis being completely calm as well helped the overall situation, as did my appearance of calm.

I looked back over at Sora, wondering if she was doing ok, only to notice that she was on the phone, and that she suddenly stiffened. That couldn't have been good, and I headed straight for her, followed by the others.

I hear a voice that sounds like Izzy's coming from Sora's phone, and realized that she must have called Izzy so he could check on Tai, and from Sora's body language I could tell what Izzy was telling her wasn't good.

"Sora?" Kari asked, very quietly, and I could tell she could see the same thing in Sora's body language as I had. Sora just holds her hand up with a one minute gesture, and Kari nods.

"Izzy can you tell me the coordinates for that area? We're going to go check it out." Sora asked into the phone, and I stiffened. That confirmed my suspicions, as much as I didn't like that fact. I'm frozen to the spot, but Davis walks away from our group at that point.

I watch him heading for the van, wondering what could have gotten into him, only to want to slap my forehead as he pulls out the laptop we'd brought just for an emergency like this.

"Yea Izzy?" Sora asks, and my attention is returned to her conversation.

"Izzy, Tai could be hurt, or still in danger, and need our help, we're going, so give us the coordinates." Sora shouts into the phone, and that really told me that Izzy had told her Tai was in trouble. Sora didn't snap at anyone like that, ever. It wasn't her angry at someone (Tai) being stupid shout, but an actually angry shout. "Thanks Izzy. If Tai's hurt we may have to come to your apartment, there's no hospital out here."

Izzy seemed to have realized it was in his best interest to give Sora what she wanted, because she visibly calmed down, a little bit and didn't shout at Izzy again.

"Thanks Izzy." Sora says before hanging up the phone. She looks at all of us, and I look back at her. Davis is still setting up the computer, but he is paying attention.

"Tai, he.." Sora starts, but seems to struggle to find the words to explain. "…He may be in trouble." She finishes, and Kari draws in a deep breath. I wasn't really surprised by that, everything in the phone conversation had pointed to that, so I was able to not visibly be shocked, and I could tell it was the same with T.K. as he put an arm around Kari quickly.

I looked at Sora, wondering if she needed any comforting. Things were just a little awkward between the two of us, but she was still my friend. So I arched an eyebrow at her, and she just gave me a look. I put my hands up in the air, and she smiled a bit. At least I'd been able to help a little bit.

I turned to Davis and the computer at this point, picking up Tsunomon so we could travel to the digital world. Davis seemed to have the computer booted up, and the digiport program open on it. I looked around a little guiltily as we all stood at the computer. I felt bad leaving all of our stuff up here, but it couldn't come with us to the digital world, and all of us needed to go. Someone would just have to come back for it.

Sora walked right next to Davis, and I stepped up next to her as Davis said.

"Tai will be fine Sora, just watch."

"Ok, well, let's go get him!" I added, trying to sound as confident as I could as I held my digivice up to the laptop.

"Digiport open!" Davis shouted as Kari and T.K. joined us and we were all transported into the digital world.

~Digital World~

I tried not to be sick looking around the Poromon village. Whoever had attacked this village had completely wrecked it. It looked worse than any of the news clips I'd seen from the wars in the Middle East, or even stuff people put in movies. The buildings were all sorts of wrecked, some with a wall here, others with a roof there, but all of them no longer usable.

The ground was covered in craters, and debris, which at times were so thick that you couldn't even see the ground at all, and the entire village was like this.

"What kind of digimon does this?" Davis asked as we followed Sora into what had been the villages central square. The worst damage seemed to be here. An entire quarter of the village had been reduced to a crater from here. When I say reduced to a crater, I mean that it had literally been reduced to a crater. There was one massive crater there, and nothing else left.

"I don't have any idea Davis…" I say, continuing to look for Tai. His signal was now jumping all over the place and seeming to become weaker. All I knew was that it was somewhere in this square.

I was starting to feel pretty guilty as I saw more and more of the damage. All of us digidestined had assumed that this was just a little raid, maybe a building destroyed here, and another there. Not for one second did we think that entire villages were being decimated like this.

_We've gotten too complacent in this peace…_ I think, just as I hear Sora shout.

"Davis! Matt!" She's yelling from the center of the square. Right were some of the worst damage is located. I start running towards her, Davis following. Sora pulls off her jacket as we run towards her, and I see why as we get closer to her and the blue, yellow, and very red shape that she's kneeling by.

Tai is unconscious on the ground in front of Sora, covered in blood, with more injuries that I can count, many of which are still bleeding. I completely freeze up. Every single part of my cool guy exterior about to shatter as I look at my completely broken best friend lying there in the rubble.

"Oh shit…" I say, not able to do anything else but stare.

Davis reacted better than me, dropping to the ground and helping Sora try to stop some of the bleeding.

"Matt…" Sora say as she and Davis cover most of Tai's still bleeding wounds. The blood from them is starting to soak the part of their jackets they had covered them with. "…Get T.K. and Kari. We need to get Tai to a hospital, and Angemon will be the safest bet for moving him…"

I nod jerkily, finally getting my body to do something other than stand there. Tai was bleeding through their jackets, and he'd already been out here for who knows how long. We had to get him to a hospital.

I run as fast as I can right out of the square and straight to Kari and T.K.

"Matt?" They ask in unison, seeing the look on my face as I run up to them.

"No time," I say quickly, out of breath. "T.K. get Angemon into the square to carry Tai. Kari, me and you have to open the portal to Izzy's apartment."

I had to keep Kari away from her brother, because she would probably start crying at the sight of him, and honestly we didn't have the time for that, not yet. I know that sounds like a real asshole move, but we had to get Tai out of there.

T.K. nodded, and ran towards the square, Patamon digivolving over him, while Kari, Gatomon, Gabumon, and I headed out of the town. I almost felt a little bad about the Poromon, but I already had enough on my plate without worrying about them.

"Matt?" Kari asked as we reached the TV port. "Is…is…Tai going to be ok?" She asked hurriedly, and suddenly as I look at her, she's not the sixteen year old young woman that I've known for years, but the vulnerable little nine-year old girl whose parents had been kidnapped by Bakemon and whose brother was somewhere trying to rescue them.

I looked at her, and really wanted to tell her that he would be, but she'd see him in a matter of minutes and that would shatter her. I opened my mouth to answer her, and the look in her eyes, not to mention the memory of what had happened the last time she looked at me like that, made me change my answer as it came out of my mouth.

"He will be, as soon as we get him home." I tell her, hoping she wouldn't take that the wrong way. Before anything else can happen Angemon flies in, followed by Sora, T.K. and Davis. Kari gets one look at the bloody wreck that is Tai and quickly turns away.

I put an arm on her shoulder as I hold up my digivice to the screen. Everyone at Izzy's was in for a big surprise.

_Davis_

I ran as fast as I could towards the TV portal that Matt and Kari were standing next to, getting ready to head into the portal. Matt was holding his Digivice up to the TV as I ran towards them, but we'd already discussed what needed to happen while we were patching Tai up. I was going to go through first and clear an area with some pillows for Tai to land on. Sora and I didn't really want to think about what would happen to Tai if we used the digiport like we normally did, and the dog pile that would result from all of us entering at once.

I still couldn't believe how clear my thoughts were at this point. I guess I just reacted to emergencies better than I thought I would have. I mean, I had every right to panic, just like everyone else did. I was carrying one of my closest friends, pretty much my brother, who was quite literally a bloody mess. I actually wasn't sure if he was going to make it this time…no, scratch that, he will make it.

_This is Tai we're talking about!_ I tell myself as I arrive at the TV. _He can't die, that wouldn't make any sense at all._

_But everyone has to die at some point…_

_Shut up! Tai can't Die!_

I arrived at the TV portal, and ran right to it.

"Digiport open!" The port sucks me in, and Matt as well since his digivice was still pointing at the TV.

We both were flung into Izzy's room, as the digiport had been reset for Izzy's as soon as we entered the digital world just in case, and there were multiple shouts as we landed there. Needless to say everyone was just a little shocked.

"Davis!" Someone shouted, as someone else shouted Matt's name. A pandemonium of voices all broke out, and I really didn't have time for that.

"QUIET!" I shout causing instant silence to break out in the room. As bad as I felt doing it, I ignored everyone in the room and turned to Matt. "We need to lay out a bunch of pillows for Tai."

Matt nods, handling those instructions better than I normally would. I mean, you get pulled through I digiport with no idea what's going on, then told to put a bunch of pillows on the ground and I think you'd be a little confused, I know I would be. Luckily, in a twisted sort of way, this situation had everyone remarkably automated so they just listened, well all of us who had seen Tai were at least.

"Davis, what is going on?" Yolei asked from where she was sitting next to Ken.

I ignored Yolei, I was just a little busy to bother answering her questions at this point. I could imagine her face pretty well as I ignored her, after all I'd done that plenty enough in the past, but I had more important things to worry about.

Matt and I got Izzy's bed, mattress and all, onto the floor where we could expect Tai to land just in time. Yolei was standing up, looking like she was about to start yelling while everyone else was also looking concerned and confused just as the computer lit up again. Patamon and Tai came flying out of the computer, landing on the mattress we had put there.

The entire room was completely silent as everyone got a look at Tai. Joe was the first person to recover, amazingly, at least to me. It seemed some of the medical training he had been through was finally starting to take root because he was immediately checking Tai's vital signs.

"What happened?" Joe asked Matt and I as he turned to the medical bag he always kept with him.

"We don't know, but I think it's safe to assume that a digimon did this to him." I reply, "But we need to get him to a hospital, now."

"I know, we need to move him down to my car…" Joe said as the computer lit up and spat out Kari, T.K., Sora, their digimon, Koromon, DemiVeemon, and Tsunomon. Izzy luckily had turned the screen so they didn't land on Tai, instead forming a pile on top of Cody and Upamon.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" I ask insistently, moving to one side of Tai. Matt almost automatically falls in on Tai's opposite side. The two of us lift Tai up as carefully as we can, heading out the door. Needless to say Izzy's parents were quite surprised when Matt and I, two people who hadn't been here, came out of Izzy's room carrying the bloody wreck that was our best friend.

Matt and I, with Joe and Izzy leading the way and Sora and Kari following us closely, ignore the shocked Izumi parents and head right out the front door. From there it was a rather simple matter of getting Tai down stairs, into the car, and Joe was driving off, with Sora and Kari in the back seat, heading for the nearest hospital.

The second it was all out of my hands the odd clear-headedness I'd had the entire time we'd been trying to save Tai disappeared completely. I blinked a few times as the reality of exactly what had happened crashed down on me.

Yea, I'd known that Tai had been hurt, badly; I mean it was impossible to not know that when I was covered in his blood, but it hadn't actually registered in my head…not really.

I let out a gasp as the reality hit me. _Tai…he really could die…_

I stopped moving as that thought finally got through my thick head. My mentor, my idol, my brother in everything but blood, could really die sometime tonight. He could already be dead for all I know. My knees suddenly felt weak, and some wet stuff is running down my face.

"Davis?" I heard a voice ask, but didn't answer. I try and take another step and stumble, falling to the ground.

"DAVIS!" A different voice shouts as I fall to the ground. I roll over, and just stare up at the ceiling, consumed in thought. What if Tai did die? Who would I have extra practices for soccer with when everyone was busy? Who would spend hours with me at an arcade that was designed for ten year olds? Who would I hang out with when T.K., Kari, Ken, and Yolei all had dates on Friday night?

_Oh shit…Kari… _I think with suddenly, remembering the girl who I considered my sister, and who was really Tai's sister. I sit up, some of the clear-headedness coming back to me. I notice most of the other digidestined in a circle around me, looking at me.

"Sorry." I tell all of them. "All of this just hit me just then." I start to stand up, and T.K. and Ken pull me to my feet.

"Just now?" Matt asks as I get face to face with him.

"Yea…I seemed to have been in a bit of denial…" I say, a little ashamed now that I thought about it, and I hang my head down. Then I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry Davis." Matt tells me as he pats my shoulder. "None of us want to believe this is happening, but it did, and now we need to get to the hospital."

"Right!" I exclaim, giving Matt a look that says thanks.

"Umm…how exactly are we supposed to do that?" Yolei asked, bursting my little bubble.

"UH…" I start, but the digimon gathered jump in before I can think of something.

"Let us handle that!" DemiVeemon says, jumping up along with the rest of our digimon. "Time to digivolve guys!"

"No wait!" Izzy shouted as the digimon all jumped forward to digivolve to their rookie forms. "We can just get my parents to drive us, there's no need to…" Izzy didn't get to finish his sentence as all the digimon digivolved anyways. "…digivolve." Izzy just sighed as the nine digimon all looked back to their partners.

~The Hospital~

Some time, and quite a few stares thanks to our digimon, later we had arrived at the hospital and found Kari and Sora waiting, along with Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya, who I'd called just before we left. No one at the hospital was in a good state. Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya were pouncing on anyone who came out of the back area where Tai had been taken. Kari was curled up into a ball crying in her seat. And Sora, well Sora was actually the scariest. She was just sitting there staring at the door, blocking out everything but the door.

She didn't respond when I tried to get her attention, or when anyone else did for that matter. Matt and Mimi sat down on either side of her, and I left them to it. Sora and I had become friends but I wasn't one of her best friends, so I went back over by Kari and T.K..

Kari was crying into T.K.'s shoulder now, and that's how our night went. T.K. and I stayed with Kari who alternated between crying into one of our shoulders or just staring at the ground, Sora just stared at the door and the Kamiya's harassed anyone who came into the waiting area. The rest of us digidestined just waited.

I was the first to notice the doctor who made a beeline for the Kamiya parents. Kari was in one of her staring at the floor phases, so I nudged her shoulder gently, gesturing towards the doctor. She stood up, just as Sora, Matt, and Mimi all jumped up as well. Sora started forward but stopped after a few seconds. Kari watched this and headed straight for her.

I started to follow, but T.K. grabbed my arm to stop me.

"Let them go on their own." He said and I stopped trying to move forward. He was right after all, that news was for Tai's family after all.

Luckily we didn't have to wait long. We were all taken back to Tai's room, and let in to see him in twos and threes. The Kamiya's all went in first, then Sora went in accompanied by Matt and Mimi, and then it was my turn. T.K. came with me since he was one of my closest friends, and he had been there when we got Tai out of the digital world.

The room was almost deathly quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the faint whirring of the machines around Tai and the beeping of the heart monitor hooked up to him. The room was only dimly lit and I could just make out Tai's shape on the bed.

He looked not a whole lot better than when I had last seen him. He was no longer covered in blood but his face was paler than I had ever seen, and he was covered in bandages. He almost looked like a mummy he had so many of them covering his body.

The doctors hadn't given us a breakdown of his injuries, but you could easily tell there were a lot of them. His arm was in a sling, his leg was also immobilized, and his head was covered in bandages. There were a dozen older things I'm just getting sick looking at.

It was hard looking at Tai this way. He was our leader, the one who helped everyone out when they needed the help, and he was invincible! I mean I know it was childish to think that he was invincible, but he had been through so much and hardly even gotten a scratch it was hard to look at him this way.

T.K. was nearly as shocked as me I think. I mean I can't see in his mind after all, so I couldn't be certain, but he was as stiff as me as we looked down at Tai. We stayed for a few minutes, sitting a silent vigil with our friend. What else could we do? He was completely unconscious, and I hadn't done anything I needed to get off my chest to say to him. It would be much easier to just wait until he woke up, then we could all yell at him for giving us this type of scare.

That's how my thoughts went for the rest of the night. We all stayed at the hospital, either in the waiting room or in the room with Tai. His parents, Kari and Sora hardly left his room, and I only left because I knew the others wanted to see him and the doctors had set a limit on the number of people allowed in. Thankfully they didn't try and keep the members of the digidestined who weren't blood relatives out of the room; I'm assuming Joe had something to do with that.

By the afternoon of the next day, Tai had still to regain consciousness, and everyone was settling into a routine. I was no longer in a state of shock when I wasn't actively helping someone thankfully, and spent the third most amount of time at the hospital. I'd gone home for about an hour to shower and change, and then been right back. Some of the others had things they needed to take care of, or parents who were concerned about where they were, I didn't. My parents still thought I was out camping, and they weren't home when I'd stopped by to shower and change, not that them not being there was unusual, they almost never were home.

So we all settled into a routine, waiting for Tai to wake up. Of course, that was our big question, when exactly was he going to wake up?

_AGH! ANOTHER CLIFF HANGER! Lol_

_So I know there was hardly any new information in this chapter, and some of you will want to strangle me for that…but I felt this was important to show, so please don't. Other than that hopefully you enjoyed. Until next week!_

_Preview:_

"_**Tai?" I heard Sora ask from where she was standing as there was a large number of voices coming from the door. From what I could pick out, it was mostly the digidestined, and my parents. Before I could try opening my eyes again I started feeling real sleepy and…**_

"_**Well, you were brought in on the nineteenth, and today is the twenty-third. You've been out cold for nearly four days now." **_

_There, that should be better than last week!_

_Review replies!_

_anonymous08: No worries! And I'm glad you liked that action scene, there should be a lot more of those coming up, unfortunately not for a few more chapters. And yes, It is very long, and hopefully this meets expectations!_

_OmegaMan133 : Thanks! Yea, I felt really bad for Sora as I wrote that chapter, but you've got it perfect. That's what I feel Sora, at least the old Sora from 01 that I've tried to return her to, would do in an emergency. And Thanks!_

_TaioraWarrior : Sorry! I can't throw out chapters at super-fast pace! At least I'm consistent! lol I really did love the Davis parts as well. He was partially there for comic relief I felt, but came off as more annoying in the show, so I'm trying to avoid that some mistake. I like the make fun of hour as well. Wait until things settle down and TAI gets his opportunity lol. I felt that Sora would be able to put aside her feelings to help others, especially Tai, if the need was there. That's where this came from, that and a little shock. AND I KNOW! I also wouldn't be drawn to write a justification fic…all would be right with the world…lol_

_Amaramichelle: I know…he never gets a break _

_Du Evarinya Vrangr: I'm glad you liked it! I like adding a little bit of normality to the stories, it does make it seem more realistic._

_DephsXylex: I guess I did overdo it a bit…next time I'll tone it down a bit to get you back to Tai…lol ahahahaha and thanks for the info. I didn't know that since I haven't been to the ER that often. Most stuff I'd heard was having to wait a long time though, so thanks for the correction!_

_Lachelle92: Thanks! I felt it was good as well, and good! Lol_

_Klyn Farseer: Thanks a bunch! I do hate cliff hangers, despite the fact that I find myself using them as an author, I had a long conversation about this with some of the other reviewers during SIB. That's not inappropriate at all! Honestly I was laughing when I thought of it myself lol._


	5. Wakey Wakey

_Alrighty hopefully everyone's had a good week, and all that other pleasantries, I know I have. Here's Chapter 5:_

_Disclaimer 1: I've never been hospitalized, or known anyone who's been hospitalized for extended periods of time for a serious injury, so most of this chapter is how I think something would go. If I do something completely wrong or just stupid, feel free to call me out on it, I'd appreciate it._

_Disclaimer 2: I don't own digimon, just like everyone else who's bothering to read this =)._

**Chapter 5 Wakey Wakey **

_Tai_

The first thing I noticed was the sheer amount of pain that seemed to be radiating from my body. Every single part of it seemed to hurt, and even a few parts that I didn't know I had were hurting. Of course that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, I mean didn't all the tough guys in movies say that feeling pain was just a sign that you were alive?

Well, I certainly felt alive, though I was kinda starting to wish that I wasn't thanks to the sheer amount of pain I was in. Then there was the fact that I couldn't see anything. Had I gone blind? Were my eyes another part of me that had taken a lot of punishment and were out of commission?

Before I could work myself into a real panic with that thought I started to hear things around me, beeping and what sounded like a deep breathing from right next to me.

_Where am I? _I wonder to myself, and then my last memory comes to me…

_My back hits the building as pain shoots through my body. As I struggle to stand up my attacker throws me across the square once more, and I land next to the exhausted Koromon. I feel the cool metal of the digimon's weapon, somehow still cold despite the number of times he'd discharged it, then I'm flipped over to face him._

That was the last thing I remember, well that and some laughter that must have occurred after I passed out. Now I was back to my original question, where was I?

_It'd probably help if I opened my eyes…which would also explain why I can't see…_

I open my eyes, and just as quickly close them. It was far too bright in the room that I was in for me to open my eyes. Almost unwillingly a moan finally escapes my lips. The light added to the rest of the pain I was in was just too overwhelming for me to not let out any sign of the pain I was in.

I felt a bit of movement on the side of whatever I was laying on…I suppose it was a bed, and decided to try and open my eyes again, a lot slower this time. I managed to slowly get them open, despite how bright it was in the room, and everything slowly started to come into focus, though I was still squinting from the light.

The first thing I noticed was the mop of red stuff that was lying down against the side of my bed. As I attempted to focus on it more the details came into focus, and I realized that it was hair, and my brain slowly put the red hair to a face.

"Sora?" I managed to croak out. I hadn't noticed before now but my throat was extremely dry, so much so uttering Sora's name was painful, just adding more pain to my already long list of painful things.

My croak also wasn't so loud, barely a whisper, and Sora was passed out so it didn't do much to wake her up.

"Sora?" I try again, a bit more loudly now that I know my voice isn't working so well and I have to put in a bit more effort.

That seemed to work; at least from what little I could see she seemed to be stirring from where she was sleeping.

"hmmmm?" She mumbled softly as she lifted her head up. I really wanted to reach out one of my hands towards her, but I literally couldn't move my arms. I couldn't tell if this was because if immobilization or if they were injured, from the pain I was receiving it could be either, but either way I wasn't able to reach out.

Sora looked around the room as she sat all the way up in her chair.

"Who's there?" She asked, not realizing it was me who had called her name.

I really wanted to crack some sort of joke at this point, you know, something like 'wow I'm gone a few hours and you've already forgotten all about your boyfriend', but that would require just a little bit too much talking on my part, so I just said Sora's name again, only it came out as more of a grunt than me actually saying something.

Sora looked confused for a second before her eyes landed on mine.

"TAI!" She shouted, and if I had been able to jump in surprise I would have. I hadn't been expecting that much of a reaction.

I did my best to smile at her, knowing that she'd probably been somewhat concerned for me, but the pathetic excuse for a smile I managed to put on my face just caused me to wince in pain. I didn't even want to think about how bad I looked if I felt this bad.

Sora looked at me in concern as I winced. Usually I would have smiled reassuringly, or said I was fine, but doing either of those things was more likely to cause me more pain. _Well this sucks…_ I thought to myself as Sora continued to look concerned.

That's when the door burst open, letting in one of the brightest lights I'd ever seen. How it was so much brighter in the hallway when it was already very bright in the room I have no idea, but my eyes instantly closed. The light was just a bit too much.

"Tai?" I heard Sora ask from where she was standing, as a large number of voices eminated from the door. From what I could pick out, it was mostly the digidestined, and my parents. All of that was just a little overwhelming for me, and throwing that in with the light I was really feeling every bit of the pain all over my body.

Suddenly I heard someone quiet the room, and then mention something about pain killers and a sedative. Before I could try opening my eyes again I started feeling real sleepy and…

~Later~

This time when I woke up I didn't fell anywhere near as much pain. I vaguely remembered something about pain killers, which would explain the lowered pain levels I was experiencing.

_Well, let's see if it's any less bright this time…_ I think to myself and slowly open my eyes. It seems just as bright as it was before, but my eyes adjust quickly and I realize that the room was actually very dark. The blinds were closed and the lights off, casting almost complete darkness throughout the hospital room. That's where I was, the monitors and medical posters giving it away easily, even if the fact that I was obviously seriously hurt hadn't.

As I got a good look around the room four people came into focus sitting in the chairs along one wall. Both of my parents, Kari, and Sora were all sitting there, my parents quietly talking while Kari and Sora seemed to be napping.

_Sora's not going to be so happy she was asleep for me waking up twice…_ I think with an inner smile. Of course the fact that she would be very concerned for me wiped that smile right out of my mind. If there was one thing I really hated it was other people worrying about me. It had plagued me back when I was having difficulties with Sora, I had felt bad about all the time Kari and Davis were spending on me, and it was going to plague me now.

If I knew Sora, and believe me I do after all we had been best friends since we were six, then I knew she probably hadn't left this hospital room once since I'd been brought in. Then there was Kari, and my parents. They had to be really worried about me, and been worried about me being in the hospital.

_Ok Tai there's nothing you can do about the past, but you can show them you're all ok now, so get their attention and show them._ I tell myself, and despite those, somewhat, confident words I hope that I am ok enough to act fine at the least.

"Mom? Dad?" I get out in the same raspy voice I had before, but the room was so quiet that they heard me no problem. In a second they were both at my side.

"Tai, you're awake!" My mother exclaims in a whisper, and I want to nod, but instead let out a raspy yes.

"We've been so worried about you…" My mom gushes out, much louder than before and she soon wakes up Kari and Sora from their naps. My dad just gave me a smile, knowing that the attention I was about to get from the women was not something I particularly wanted.

"Yea, sorry about that…" I start, despite the fact that it still hurt to rasp out even that much of a sentence. The three women look at me in concern as I cough a little from my scratchy throat. Luckily for me someone out in the hall must have heard the commotion, because someone wearing a lab coat came in.

He slowly checked the monitors in the room, not even introducing himself to me, but that was fine. At least it stopped the others from standing over me telling me how concerned they were about me. It's not that I didn't want people, especially these people, caring for me, it's just the fact that I felt that I'd let them down.

I was supposed to be the strong one, the one who was there for everyone else, make them feel better and get over their problems. I didn't really know how to act as, or if I could even take being, the one in a weakened state. I'd already been in the hospital for who knows how long, and judging from what little I could see of myself, and the massive amount of pain I had been in before the painkillers, I was going to be out of commission for a while. I just wasn't at all used to this feeling of weakness.

"Well everything seems to be in order." The doctor said to himself mostly, and then came over to the side of my bed. "Hello Tai, my name is Dr. Hayashi. How are you feeling?"

"Hi." I rasp out. I mean, what else can you say to a doctor when he introduces himself? But I continued to answer his question, trying to add a bit of humor to the situation. "Kinda like I got hit by a bus."

His eyebrows came together as I spoke.

"Is your throat dry?" He asked, and I manage a nod, immediately regretting the motion. It caused a shot of pain to shoot up my neck. He nods as I say this and walks over to the sink in the hospital room. As my eyes followed him I got a better look at the room. The far side from the windows had a sink and dispenser for soap and paper towels. Next to that were an assortment of medical tools, all lined up and ready for use.

Other than that the side of the room with the sink was mostly bare, other than a single door that was currently closed.

Dr. Hayashi did something over at the sink, and then walked back with a cup in his hands. That got me excited; some water would feel great right now. I couldn't exactly move my own arms, though I still wasn't sure if they were injured or just immobilized. So yet again feeling embarrassed I had to have one of the others give me the water. Luckily Sora volunteered, and smiled a little as me as she gave me the water. I smiled back as I finished the water off. My throat felt a million times better now, and the smiling didn't hurt as much as last time.

"Ok Tai, I just need to ask you a few questions to make sure your brain or memory hasn't been damaged." Dr. Hayashi tells me, and I nod again, ignoring the pain that comes from that simple gesture. "Ok, what is the last thing that you remember?"

"Um…" I start, wondering how much I should tell him about the digital world. Even though everyone knew about the digital world, it wasn't exactly something we digidestined discussed with people outside of our group. _Ok, let's start with the soccer game._

"I had a big soccer game, which we won…" I continue, and Dr. Hayashi interrupts me.

"What was the score? Details are often important to check." He asks, and I nod again, starting to get used to the pain.

"It was 8-2, us." I reply and Kari and Sora nod, confirming my knowledge.

"Ok, and after the game?" Dr. Hayashi asked.

"Davis got chased thanks to Sora shouting his name, then we all went for pizza, then we got called by Izzy." I continue, and the doctor seems to be making check marks on his clip board. I stop at this point, since the next part involved the digital world and I wasn't sure if that should be brought up. Luckily someone else had apparently already informed him, because he continued for me.

"That was just before you went into the digital world correct?" He asked, basically letting me know that he knew about me being in the digital world.

"Yea. I told the others to enjoy their time off and I'd take care of the problem. Then we got attacked at a Poromon village and I woke up here." I finished. Dr Hayashi took down a couple more notes, and then hung his clip board on a hook on the wall.

"Ok Tai, is there anything you want to know?" He asked, and I really did have a lot of questions for the doctor, so I just jumped in.

"How long have I been here, and what exactly is wrong with me?" I ask, since those are the two biggest questions on my mind. My parents, Kari, and Sora all seemed to look at the ground, though I wasn't paying much attention to them.

"Well, you were brought in on the nineteenth, and today is the twenty-third. You've been out cold for nearly four days now." Dr. Hayashi replied, and my eyes widened. Four days? I'd been out four days? That didn't seem possible…

"And for your injuries, well they're extensive." He seemed to hesitate at this point, and was probably trying to be considerate, but I needed to know what was wrong with me.

"Go ahead doctor." I tell him, meeting his eyes. He nods after a second and continues.

"You've got several broken ribs, your right arm has three separate fractures, and your femur was broken several inches below your hip." Dr. Hayashi told me, and I took a deep breath. I'd broken my arms before, but never my legs; they were what I used to play soccer so I'd always been careful about doing anything that could lead to a broken leg. I had to not panic, but I was already starting to feel sick. I wasn't going to get to play in the AJHST, and I probably would miss a good portion of next season as well. I was going to let my soccer team down, just like I let the digidestined down…

"In addition you lost a lot of blood, and have numerous wounds all over your body. Those are healing well, and you will mostly just end up with a few scars from them. They shouldn't cause any sort of complications for you in the future." Dr. Hayashi concludes, and I simply nod. I can't bring myself to actually talk right now; all of this information is just a little too overwhelming.

The doctor just looked at me, and I laid my head back. I just stared at the ceiling; I don't really know for how long, I just stared though. My head was consumed in thoughts. I mean, wouldn't your head be filled with thoughts if you'd just found that out. I think the worst thing for me was how much I'd let everyone down.

I'd let my fellow soccer players down by getting injured like this. I was the star player on our team, its best striker, and here I was lost for the most important tournament of our team's existence. I'd gotten myself injured before it even started. What was worse was how and why I'd been injured.

I'd gone in cocky. It was plain and simple what I had done. We hadn't run into a serious threat in the digital world since the defeat of MaloMyotismon, and I hadn't even stopped to think I would run into a powerful enemy. I mean, who could stand up to the power of Agumon and my Crest? Apparently that question had been answered, and my injuries proved how wrong my assumptions had been.

I slowly closed my eyes, and then opened them again. I felt horrible, my injuries were bad enough but how much I had let everyone down was making me feel even worse.

"Tai?" A voice asked from my side. I tilted my and look right into Sora's crimson eyes. She's leaning over the bed, looking right at me. "You alright?"

I didn't really know how to respond. Was I ok? No. Did I deserve anyone, especially Sora, worrying about me, also no. Could I manage to fool Sora in my current state? I had no idea.

"Yea, I'm fine." I decide to say, and her tentative smile turns into a frown.

"Ok, now that you've tried that, you want to tell me the truth?" Sora said, in a rather annoyed voice. I sigh on the inside. I can't lie to Sora when I'm not feeling horrible and in a hospital bed. I simply glance down at my injured body. I can tell that both my parents have left, and that Kari is looking through a magazine, doing her best to pretend not to hear our conversation.

"Tai?" I hear Sora ask, her voice no longer sounding like she's annoyed with me. That concern really is touching, even if I don't feel like I deserve it.

"I let everyone down." I finally reply, very quietly.

"What?" Sora asked, sounding actually confused.

"Me, I let everyone down." I reply louder this time, still not meeting Sora's gaze. "I tell you guys I can handle the problem in the digital world, and I completely blow that. I try and protect that Poromon village, and it gets destroyed, and now I won't be able to help my team in the tournament. Name one way I didn't let everyone down." I finished bitterly.

I kept looking down when I felt a hand on my chin. Sora lifted my face so that I was looking right at her. "You didn't let me down Tai." Sora said. "If anything the rest of us let you down."

"How?" I ask, not able to accept that.

"We weren't there to help you. We assumed that it would just be some Numemon again, and we let you go, and we almost lost you because of it." At the end Sora lowered her own head, and I suddenly felt worse. I'd been so worried about the fact that I'd let everyone down that I'd forgotten that everyone had been here at the hospital waiting for me to wake up for four days.

I reach out my left arm, which I figured out I could move, and gently place my hand on Sora's cheek. "Hey, I'm ok now; you don't have to worry about me…"

Sora put her hand on top of mine, and looked up. I could see unshed tears in her eyes, and tried a hesitant smile. The pain didn't feel good in the least, but I kept up the smile until Sora smiled back at me.

"Ok, so I don't have to worry about you anymore, but you can't blame yourself for what happened." Sora said, still speaking quietly.

"You're going to be stubborn about this aren't you?" I asked, and she nodded with a smile. "Ok, I'll try not to tell everyone the truth…" Sora glared at me. I knew that if I hadn't been in a hospital bed she probably would have hit me, and that glare was enough for me to reverse my statement. "…er, I mean what I was thinking."

"Good," She said, smiling and squeezing my hand, which she kept held in her own.

"You two done yet?" Kari asked from where she was sitting.

"Yes." Sora said, and Kari stood up and came to my right side, opposite of where Sora was standing.

"Ok Tai, now never, ever do that to me again! Ok?" Kari said forcefully, giving me a familiar looking stubborn look.

"You're not going to let me say anything other than yes, are you?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

She nods, and I sigh. "When did my life start getting controlled by women?"

~Scene Change~

So the next few days were far from the greatest in my life, but they were also far from the worst. I had to get surgery for the break in my leg. That surgery was scheduled for the day after I woke up, Christmas Eve as it happened to be.

It didn't really click in my head that it was Christmas time already since it had been nearly a week away when I got injured. Sora was actually the one to remind me, the day I woke up. She left for a couple of minutes and returned with a gift wrapped box.

I was a little surprised at first seeing how Christmas was a few days away, but just smiled and awkwardly unwrapped the box. It turned out to be a box of cookies, and I remembered exactly what had happened a year ago today…then proceeded to munch on the cookies.

Sure it was sad thinking about that Christmas concert and Sora's rejection, but we're together now, and happy beyond belief, so the past can just be the past rather than something I dwell on. The cookies were really good, and I almost didn't notice the icing on them.

Koromon, who I had been reunited with soon after I finished talking to Sora, Kari, and my parents, and who was almost fully recovered from the battle, accidently sent one flying in his haste to devour as many of them as possible, and that's when I noticed it.

All of them had either T & S with a heart around it, or C & L with a heart around it. I looked at Sora, who was blushing as she noticed that I had noticed the icing.

"Do you like them?" She asked, sounding very concerned.

"Of course! Their great!" I tell her, and Koromon sprays crumbs as he tries to agree with me. "Of course, the icing…"

"What's the matter with the icing?" Sora asked concerned, and I smiled on the inside, I had a grade A opportunity to tease Sora.

"Well…it's so…effeminate." I finish, and Sora's eye twitches as I say this. I'm struggling to not laugh at this point, partially because of the pain my laughing will cause and partially because Sora would probably explode.

Sora looks back and forth between me and the box of cookies, and I finally can't help but let a laugh escape my lips because of the look on her face.

"SHUT UP! STUPID TAI!" Sora explodes, and I laugh even harder, partially from Sora's explosion, and partially because if I didn't I'd be crying from the pain. I finally manage to stop the laughing and took several deep breaths.

"As soon as you're out of the hospital you're a dead man Taichi." Sora said in a very quiet voice.

"What? I was just saying what was on my mind." I reply to Sora, smiling at her. She just glared at me, and then her eyes widened, and a grin replaced the frown on her face.

I suddenly got very scared. Sora only went from frowning to grinning that fast when she came up with a way to get back at me, and I was afraid of what she suddenly had come up with.

"Ok Tai, I'll remember you don't like me being effeminate the next time you want me to wear that skirt you like so much…" Sora said with her evil grin on her face.

"NNNNOOOOOOO!" I shout as Sora breaks out into her own uncontrollable laughter.

Eventually the two of us just laughed about the whole situation, and went back to a comfortable silence. Until everyone else (as in the other digidestined) barged into my room, complete with all of their digimon partners.

The reunion was loud, obnoxious, and there were quite a few people who yelled at me for almost getting killed (mostly a tear covered Mimi). All together it was a happy reunion, though it was cut short by Dr. Hayashi getting everyone out, so I could go to sleep. My surgery was scheduled for early in the morning.

I couldn't tell you much about the surgery, I was knocked out the entire time so I can't give you many details, but afterwards my leg hurt more than before. The doctors told me this was a good thing since I now had several metal screws holding my broken femur together, so I didn't talk about it.

The next day was Christmas, and my family, plus Sora and Davis, spent the entire morning in my room, doing all sorts of different Christmassy things. Around noon the rest of the digidestined arrived and a rather loud party ensued (much to most of the hospital staffs dislike). It may not have been the adventure filled Christmas of the year before, but it certainly was a good Christmas.

I even got the chance to give Sora the special present I'd gotten for her. To be honest, and none of you had tell Sora this, I'd gotten this present for her the year before, but certain circumstances had prevented me from giving it to her then, or at her birthday this last year.

It was a rather simple rendition of the symbol of Sora's Crest of Love, with the majority of the heart being made of gold, and the dot on the right side made of ruby, all hung on a golden chain. (I said it was simple, not cheap). I'd spent nearly three months working overtime at my job to save up enough money to get this for her, so needless to say I had been slightly disappointed that I hadn't been able to give it to her (among other things) the year before.

It was towards the end of my day, the doctors insisted I go to bed every night at about nine, so I everyone was preparing to leave. My parents, Kari, and Sora had all said they would stay, but I told them to go back to their own beds. I figured they had been spending their nights sleeping in the uncomfortable hospital chairs, so they should go get a good night's sleep.

I had Sora wait up so I could give her the present. She sat down by my bed and we talked for a few minutes, before I pulled out the necklace.

"This is for you." I told her, using my left arm to lift the large jewelry box from where it had been laying against my leg.

"And here I was thinking you had forgotten about me." Sora said with a grin, and I smiled back.

She opened the box and let out a gasp as she caught sight of the Crest symbol copy inside. She slowly lifted it out of the box and I continued to smile, she obviously liked it, a lot.

"Usually I'd offer to put it on for you, but well I'm a little crippled here." I tell her with a laugh, and she smiles. She places the necklace around her neck, and lowers here hands so I can see how it looks.

"Perfect." I tell her with a smile.

"It is! Thank you so much!" Sora said, and I smiled at the cheesy comment that came into my head at that point.

"I wasn't talking about the necklace." I say, and Sora looks at me, and then starts laughing, and I join in. Cheesy romantic things like that were much more of a joke than something serious for the two of us.

After a good laugh Sora leans her head close to mine.

"Thank you again Tai." She tells me softly.

"No, thank you," I reply, speaking just as softly, "this was probably one of the best Christmas's I've ever had."

Sora smiles at me, and leans in for a kiss, just as someone whistles from the door. Sora jumps up, looking towards the door, and I look over to see most of the digidestined standing in the door, and Davis with his fingers in his mouth for the whistle.

Matt just grinned at the two of us. "Why don't you two get a room?"

"We had one, but your standing in the door of it!" I call back, more amused than upset probably because there was nothing that I could do to change this, now Sora on the other hand was getting a little upset.

"Motomiya, Ishida, you're so dead." Sora said, just before running at the suddenly empty door.

"Bye dear, love you!" I shout after her with a laugh, and she stops at the door to blow me a kiss before chasing after Davis and Matt.

Things certainly had turned around over the last few days.

_Bam. No big cliff hanger, just the what happens next in the story. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the whole chapter. I know the second half seems fairly random, but they were a few things I wanted to put in the story, and it helped to lighten the mood of the chapter, in my opinion at least. Well, until next Sunday!_

_Preview!_

"_**Well." Tai said, accepting my answer easily, "We were talking about how we were all going to get to the championship round Saturday when they FINALLY let me out of here." **_

"_**Hey Izzy, what's up?" Tai asks from his wheelchair. Izzy holds up a finger as he continues to catch his breath. A few seconds later he straightens up and looks at Tai. "I got a message from Gennai!" He exclaims.**_

_Review Replies!_

_Lachelle92: I am not mean! I just like keeping people interested! Lol_

_TaioraWarrior: It's a good thing this is based in Japan. I'm pretty sure where your body of work is set is where they would try you, so I don't have to worry about that little clause! Lol What would you have done if I had decided to give Kari's perspective before waking Tai's up? TO be honest I was tempted to do that for the first half of the chapter, just to see if people would flip out at first lol._

_OmegaMan133: lol it's funny that you say that, because sometimes I wish that I didn't have to worry about different perspectives. Sometimes making sure everyone has enough screen time is pretty hard lol. I liked that line as well, though this one had some of my personal favorites in it. Thanks, and I hope that this satisfied._

_Supershooter: Thanks, and hopefully this provided some new info for ya._


	6. Homebound

_Happy Sunday everyone! Well, here's chapter 6, enjoy yourselves!_

_Disclaimer: I've used so many different disclaimers I can't actually remember if i've done a joke before, so I'm just going to comment on that fact this week. Oh, and probably say something like I don't own digimon…it would be a good Christmas present though if any of you are looking for ideas for me! lol_

**Chapter 6 Homebound**

_Kari_

"…So I got the ball, and managed to get through all of the defenders and score a goal, and the game winning goal at that!" Davis boasted loudly as he gave Tai a detailed play by play of their soccer team's latest narrow win.

I was sitting next to him having just arrived with him from the game he was busy explaining to Tai. Tai for his part was paying complete attention to Davis's play by play, sitting up in his bed, and leaning forward, while Sora was sitting on the other side of the bed, also paying close attention to Davis. T.K. was on the other side of me, and the other digidestined were not currently at the hospital.

Tai looked over a hundred times better than when we had first brought him in to the hospital. I shudder a little bit remembering that day, and the other days that we waited for him to regain consciousness. I'm not going to lie; I don't think I've ever been that scared ever in my life.

Just seeing him as injured as he was, and so vulnerable and weak was a shock. There's something you have to understand about Tai and I, we are much closer than most siblings. Yes we have our share of fights, but we're always there for each other, and willing to help the other. Tai has almost always been a source of strength for me, just by being there, and being strong for me.

The only time I had ever seen him in a state where he had been weak had been earlier in the year when he had his whole incident with Sora, but even then he was always able to make it through the day somehow, well until the end, but that wasn't really him. Tai's strength had always inspired me to be stronger myself.

I had been sick constantly when I was younger, and Tai had never let that keep him from being there for me. If I didn't have anyone to watch over me, or just hang out with me, he'd often times stay home from seeing his friends to spend time with me, without me ever asking him to. If he didn't do that, he'd take me with him when he went to play with his friends, though there was one time that it didn't work out so well, I never blamed him for that time.

So needless to say Tai had always been there for me, and to see him rapped up like a mummy and unconscious with the doctors unsure when, or even if, he would wake up scared me completely. I had been a tearful wreck for most of the first day, but T.K. and Davis had helped me calm down. The long wait after that had almost been worse.

I didn't leave the hospital, just like my parents and Sora, while the other digidestined cycled through. The seemingly endless wait had dragged me down, and it had dragged all of us down. I'd like to say I'd stayed optimistic, but I can't. None of us had, except Davis. Davis had acted just like Tai would have, at least in front of everyone, for their benefit. I knew Davis too well to think that he wasn't concerned for Tai, or disturbed by what he saw, but it was almost as if something or someone was giving him the ability to be cheerful for all of us.

That had kept me from going too far into despair, and I think it had helped everyone else as well. Then Tai had woken up. You could visibly see the relief in everyone's faces when Tai had woken up. Well everyone but Tai's.

I think the scope of his injuries had registered with him almost immediately, and looking back he would have been completely justified if he had completely freaked out at that point. I know I hadn't realized exactly what all of his injuries meant, I'd been too worried about him waking up. He wouldn't be able to play soccer for the foreseeable future, and I think that was the biggest shock for him.

The longest he had ever gone without playing soccer was about a week when he had broken his arm, and that had only been because our parents had kept him from playing. Now though Tai was looking at several months of recovery and rehab time, and I think he realized that right away.

Though I hadn't participated in the conversation with him right after he had woken up, I could see from where I was that he didn't feel good. The look of absolute despair that I had seen in his eyes was one I had never seen before, nor did I ever want to see it again.

There were only a few things that my brother was more passionate about than soccer, and not being able to play it for a while, especially when his team was starting a tournament, had to be killing him on the inside. Luckily Sora had been there for him. I had been a little upset at first when I realized that she was able to help him so easily; actually jealous would be a better word. The only time he had been that depressed I had tried my hardest to cheer him up, and nothing had worked, and then Sora shows up during this new thing and snaps him out of it with a few words. I think it is understandable that I was a little jealous, but it was a stupid jealousy, and I realized that.

Tai had been depressed earlier because of the actions of another person, the same person who had just cheered him up in fact, not beating himself up over something that wasn't his fault. Getting him to cheer up over that is much easier than what I had been trying to do. I understood that, and I was just glad someone had gotten him to snap out of it. I had been afraid during the whole Sora incident that he would do something dreadful to himself, in fact I had even come upon him one night, eating his way through our kitchen. I had looked up several methods for dealing with depression that were self-destructive and did find an eating disorder that sounded like Tai would fit it. Luckily that didn't last, and it turned out that soccer was the preventer of that. I watched him for a few nights, and he finally just stopped on his own, and I could have sworn I hear him say it was bad for his soccer playing.

Ok, I'm getting off track, where was i? Oh yea, glad. I was just glad that he had ended up being ok, and even returning to his normally cheerful self. Tai seemed to almost always hit an emotional peak or valley; he'd either be very happy, or extremely depressed. Luckily he was almost always on one of the peaks.

"Hello? Earth to Kari!" A voice interrupted my silent contemplations, and I focused on the room. Everyone was looking at me, and Davis was waving a hand in front of my face.

"Ops, sorry, hehe." I say as I finally notice the fact that my thoughts had led me to space out a little. "What did I miss?"

"Well." Tai said, accepting my answer easily, "We were talking about how we were all going to get to the championship round Saturday when they FINALLY let me out of here." Tai placed a big emphasis on finally, and you could hear the frustration in his voice.

He'd been in here for two weeks since his surgery, and was already going crazy being stuck in the hospital. He had made good progress in his rehab, at least as good as he could have. His surgery had gone without a problem, and the doctors had told him he was well on his way to recovery, but his broken arm was interfering with his rehab considerably.

In fact, though he was being released tomorrow, the doctors told him that he had to use a wheelchair the entire time when he wasn't in rehab, so he doesn't reinjure himself. What's worse, at least for Tai's desire to avoid the doctor's rule, the doctors had told Sora and I that little fact, so Tai wouldn't be able to try any extra rehab when he was at home, and reinjure himself.

It sounded a little harsh, but I didn't want my brother to get hurt even more, and the doctors said it was for the best. Tai protested for a few hours, but actually calmed down quite a bit after that. He may not like it, but he seemed to accept it, or at least was just plotting how he would get out of his restrictions.

I wasn't that concerned about him breaking out of our care. After all, with a broken arm how exactly was he going to get away from both me and Sora?

"Well, aren't we just going to use Matt's van? It's the only one that's big enough to hold a handicap person…" T.K. started to say, but the look on Tai's face stopped him.

"I AM NOT HANDICAPED!" He shouted, and T.K. quickly ran behind me, while Davis and Sora burst into laughter. They had both been here the other day when Matt had made the exact same mistake, and Tai's reaction had been even worse.

The door cracked a bit, and one of the nurses poked her head into the room, looking in at us all.

"Is everything alright?" She asked, a bemused expression on her face as she took in T.K. cowering behind me, Tai's face red with anger, and Davis and Sora's laughter.

"Yes, everything's alright." I tell the nurse, and she nods, exiting the door.

"T.K. when I get my hands on you…" Tai said threateningly, and I saw the grin on Sora's face.

_This is not going to end well…_I think to myself, knowing too well exactly how my brother and his girlfriend usually acted around each other.

"Don't you mean _hand_ Tai? After all, you can't do much with a broken arm." Sora asked, an innocent seeming smile on her face.

Tai turned to glare at her, not being fooled by her smile. They knew each other too well for the innocent look to actually work.

"You know Tai, Sora does have a point." Davis chimed in, deciding that teasing Tai would be a fun activity while he was crippled and unable to harm him. "Could you really strangle T.K. with only one hand?"

Tai turned to glare at Davis, and I had to stifle my own laughter as he gave Davis a look that said you to? Davis just grinned a cocky grin, and Tai sighed.

"Ok, it would probably be really hard to strangle him with one hand…" Tai said, showing some of the maturity that he'd gained over his lifetime. "But I could still do it, now come here T.K." And there went his maturity.

T.K. had let out a sigh of relief at Tai's first statement, but went right back to hiding behind me after the second part. All three started laughing at the expression on T.K.'s face, and after a few minutes finally convinced him that Tai wouldn't really strangle him.

Just as we all settled down for a bit, we were all going to play a board game until visiting hours were over, the door opened up and Izzy walked into the hospital room. Izzy had been able to visit the least as he and Tai had agreed that he should be on the lookout for the reemergence of the digimon that had attacked Tai.

Tai had informed all of us about the digimon that had attacked him and the village he was in, and honestly I was a little scared. He seemed to have the power of a Mega digimon, and a willingness to use that power for sheer destruction.

"Any luck Izzy?" Tai asked, sobering up from his earlier anger-turned-to-humor.

"No, I can't find this digimon of yours, or get into contact with Gennai." Izzy replied, his face downcast at failing.

"Don't worry about it Izzy. It's not like there's a lot we could do right now anyways." Tai told his friend, who looked up and nodded. "Now why don't you join us for some board games since I can't do anything else until I get out of this place?" Tai laughed at the end, and Izzy just nodded.

I looked at my brother concerned by his laughter at the end of his statement. After the board games were finished everyone got up to leave, but I stayed behind. Sora was also waiting, but noticed that I was there and seemed to know that I needed some alone time with Tai. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and then left the room.

"So what's up?" He asked, flashing a grin. He didn't wince in pain as he did that, something I'd notice him do every time he smiled when he first woke up.

"How are you?" I ask in reply, sitting in the chair next to his bed. He looked right at me, and I gave him what I hoped was a stubborn look.

"I…I've been better." He said, looking down at his broken body. "This whole situation, it's just so different from anything I've gone through before. There's no quick fix, no way to do something and poof! It's fixed, and I don't know how to deal with that."

He stopped for a second, and I placed a hand on his arm, but he wasn't finished.

"And that's not even the worst part. I physically can't do anything. I can't walk; I can't even move a wheelchair without someone's help. I've never been in a situation when I was so…so handicapped!" Tai said all of this in the same pained voice that he would never use with his friends, and started laughing as he said the last part. "I really am handicapped, whether I like it or not. Then there's how I act. It's getting harder to be that cheerful person everyone expects me to be all the time, at least while I'm in here." Then laid his head back onto his pillow. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have dumped all of that on you."

"Tai, you don't need to apologize, I'm your sister, it's what I'm here for." I tell him, giving him a smile.

He looked up from where he was laying back. "How do I deal with all of this?"

"That's easy!" I say with a smile still on my face. My brother had always been there for me when I was sick, and now I was going to be there for him. "Just be yourself Tai. You're the strongest person I know, and I know that you can pull through this easy. And if you have any doubts, I'll be there, and Sora will be there, and Davis, and Matt, and T.K., and everyone else! Just don't give up, or despair and you'll be out of that wheelchair in no time." I gave Tai my biggest, brightest smile as I said all of this, and he smiled back.

"Is it really that easy?" He asked quietly, and I nod.

"It really is, you're the strongest person I know Tai, you'll pull through all of this and be back to terrorizing Japan's soccer teams in no time."

Tai smiles, then uses his good arm to give me a one armed huge. "Thanks sis, I really needed this."

"No problem bro." I reply, and hug him back.

_Sora_

"Geez, can this thing go any slower?" Tai asked impatiently, and I sighed. Tai was very anxious to get back to his apartment, and really didn't like how long it was taking to get there.

"Tai, the elevator isn't going that slow, calm down a bit." Matt told Tai from where he as standing behind his wheelchair. "And don't even think about mentioning my driving if you ever want to make it back to your apartment."

Tai had been opening his mouth, most likely to say something about Matt's driving, but snapped it shut as Matt finished his sentence. That time I had to laugh, and Davis, who was in the elevator with us, did as well. Normally I would feel bad about laughing at someone who was as injured as Tai, even if it was Tai, but he had told us a few days after his surgery that he didn't want any sort of special treatment, he still got the special treatment but we tried to do it behind his back, and that he wanted everyone to act normal, which included jokes at each other's expense and threats like that.

"No fair! You wouldn't do that to a cripple!" Tai protested as Davis and I laughed harder. Matt's face was completely serious as he tried to, and succeeded, in keeping a straight face.

"After all the times you've mocked my van, I think this is only fair." Matt replied, doing his best to be as cool as possible.

"But…But…IT'S NOT FAIR!" Tai said before all of us burst into laughter. He joined in after a few seconds, after all it was only a bit of good natured teasing, and he really did mock Matt's van every other day.

The elevator arrived on the Kamiya's floor, and Matt pushed Tai right out of the elevator. Despite how much Tai had been complaining about the slow elevator it was still faster than Mrs. Kamiya, Kari, and T.K., who were coming up the stairs.

They arrived, finally as Tai said it, a few seconds after us, and Mrs. Kamiya opened up the door to the apartment. Matt, grinning in a very unMatt-like fashion waited for everyone else to enter the apartment before pushing Tai through the door.

"You're just enjoying this far too much." Tai said grumpily as Matt finally pushed him into the apartment.

"Well Tai can you blame him?" I asked, knowing a perfect way to have Tai feel better about the situation. "After all, it is the only opportunity he'll have to lord over you."

Tai looked at me, and shrugged from his chair. "I guess."

"You guess?" Davis said with a laugh, sitting down on the sofa as we all entered the living area. "Tai if your positions were reversed you wouldn't shut up."

Tai looked like he was about to say something, and then leaned back in his chair.

"Wow, is the great Tai Kamiya admitting defeat already?" I asked, poking his good arm.

"Well when it's three on one, the odds aren't good…but I'll get you all back, when you least expect it." Tai said grinning, and starting a fake evil laugh.

"Please Tai, everyone knows your plans never work…" Kari chimed in from where she was sitting on the sofa next to T.K.

Tai looked at her, and threw his head back in mock horror. "Not you too Kari!" The whole room burst into laughter at Tai's statement.

After a few minutes the laughter died down, and everyone leaned back in their seats.

"So Tai." I said, turning to him. "What do you want to do now?"

Tai looked up from where he had been staring blankly at the wall.

"Um…could we go out and do something?"

~Later that night~~

The rest of the night ended up being fairly uneventful, as Mrs. Kamiya forbid Tai from going out, telling him he would spend the first night at home. We ended up watching a couple of movies, though it did take us quite a while to pick a movie. Kari and I wanted to watch one of the Kamiya's romance movies, and T.K. agreed with Kari, something that always happened, while Tai, Matt, and Davis wanted to watch one of the many action movie that the Kamiya's had.

Usually I'd agree with the guys, and watch an action movie, but that had been all that we watched in the hospital. Izzy had hooked up some stuff to Tai's hospital room's TV that allowed him to play any movie that was available on the internet, so pretty much any movie. Tai had chosen almost every action movie that had ever come out, and I was tired of watching stuff blow up.

"How about this one?" Davis said, holding up yet another action DVD. Both Tai and Matt nodded, agreeing with Davis, while Kari and T.K. shook their heads, T.K. a second after Kari had.

"Davis, we watched that one three days ago." I inform him. Davis reached for another DVD, but I cut him off. "And that one, and every other one that you have in there."

"Oh come on Sora," Tai said from his wheelchair, and I decided that was enough. _Time to have Tai emulating T.K._ I think to myself, turning to Tai and giving him a grin.

Tai's eyes narrowed as I grinned at him, and I could tell that he knew I was up to something. Unfortunately for him there wasn't a thing that he would be able to do.

I get close enough to whisper into his ear.

"If you ever want me to kiss you, snuggle with you, or do anything else that remotely says I'm your girlfriend, you'll agree to my movie."

I could see him stiffen as I say that, and lean back grinning at Kari. She grins back, and we both wait for Tai to agree with the two of us.

"Tai?" Davis asked cautiously, looking at Tai in concern. I'm doing my best to keep from laughing as Tai's faces goes from horrified, to confused, back to horrified, to angry, then confused again, and then it just breaks into about twenty different expressions.

"Don't worry Davis." Matt says confidently, looking at me as he says this. For my part I give him an innocent look that I knew he wasn't falling for. "Tai always puts his friends first. Right Tai?"

"Uh…" Tai starts off, looking back and forth between me and Matt, getting more worked up by the second.

I feel Kari leaning in as Tai looks back towards Matt.

"Whatever you said Sora, I think it's going to make his brain explode." Kari said to me, and I had to agree. I didn't mean to make Tai so confused and conflicted, but I really didn't want to watch another action movie.

"Tai…" Matt says, and Tai looks at him, then back to me one last time, and I give him a warning look.

He sighs, and lowers his head. "Sorry, but I think we shouldn't watch an action movie." Tai said very quietly, and Kari and I grinned in triumph.

"What?" Davis and Matt said simultaneously.

"You can't be serious." Davis said after that, and Tai avoided his gaze.

"Why not Davis? Tai just has a better taste in movies." I tell him, as I pull the movie that Kari and I had pick, out.

"I think that he's totally whipped would be a more accurate statement." Matt said with a snigger, and Davis joined in a few seconds later. Tai just sighed and hung his head low as his friends laughed. I pat him on his good shoulder.

"Don't worry Tai, they're both just sad their still single." I told him, which shuts both of them up instantly. Kari is doing her best not to laugh at all of the boys facial expressions, and failing miserably, while T.K. looks like he's trying to avoid being seen, which is probably pretty smart of him.

So that was the most exciting event of the night. We ended up watching two movies, so the boys got to watch their action movie, and then it was time for everyone to leave. Tai tried to walk me up to my apartment, but that didn't work so well since he couldn't walk, or even wheel himself around without someone pushing him, and Matt refused to push him up to my floor and then back down. So instead we said goodnight at the Kamiya's door, and then I walked up on my own.

The rest of my night pretty much consisted of returning home and heading to bed, nothing special at all. The next morning though, things promised to start to turn into more interesting times, though if that was a good thing I couldn't tell you.

Our first clue of this was a loud banging on the door.

I had come to the Kamiya's early in the morning. Tai unusually was actually awake, attempting to wheel himself around his apartment, with surprisingly good results.

"Hey Sora, do you think I could do wheelies in this thing?" He asked as I walked into the apartment. I looked at him in horror as he grinned at me, and brought his arm back as if he was going to actually attempt the wheelie.

"No Tai!" I shout reaching forward, actually expecting my big haired stupid boyfriend to give it a try. Tai just stared at me, and laughed as I jumped at him.

"hahaha, you had a better reaction than Kari did!" He exclaims gleefully while he continues to laugh. My eyes narrow, but he's completely unfazed by my glare. I open my mouth to give him a piece of my mind when the loud knocking I mentioned earlier happened.

Mrs. Kamiya, who had just let me in, turned back to the door from where she was in the kitchen to let whoever it was in. A second later Izzy was standing in the Kamiya's living room, panting as if he had just…run all the way from his apartment building.

"Hey Izzy, what's up?" Tai asks from his wheelchair. Izzy holds up a finger as he continues to catch his breath. A few seconds later he straightens up and looks at Tai.

"I got a message from Gennai!" He exclaims, and instantly has my full attention. Tai is also sitting up a little straighter.

"What did it say?" Tai asked immediately. We had been waiting since Tai was first in the hospital for some sort of message from our digital guide.

"I'm waiting until we can get everyone together before opening it up. And I thought you would want to know." Izzy tells Tai, who smiles at him.

"Thanks Izzy, we should let all the others know to meet up here, and then we can see what Gennai has for us." Tai tells Izzy. A few minutes later everyone has been informed and they were on their way.

Izzy was sitting on the Sofa, while I was in the kitchen helping Mrs. Kamiya get some snacks (if you could call them that) ready for when everyone came over.

"So Tai, how does it feel to be home?" Izzy asked, since he had been busy monitoring the digital world yesterday while Tai had been brought home.

"Pretty good. I still have to go in for rehab every other day, so I will still be going to the hospital pretty often." Tai informed Izzy, "and other than that it's awesome. I even can move myself around a bit on my own."

"Really? Didn't the doctors say that would be next to impossible for you to do?"

"Yep, I proved those guys wrong!" Tai said, before starting a fairly maniacal laugh. I just shook my head as Izzy scooted a few feet away from Tai.

"Oh come on Izzy, I was just pretending to have lost it!" Tai exclaimed with a normal laugh, which Izzy nervously joined in.

"All joking aside Tai, how are you really doing?" Izzy asked after another few seconds. My ears perked up, since Izzy was one of Tai's friends who he would actually tell the whole truth to about how he felt. It's not that he lied to the rest of us; he just didn't want us worrying about him. He knew Izzy be able to handle what he told him and not freak out if it wasn't good news.

"Not bad, really Izzy. I wish I could get out of this chair, but I can't. I'm learning to deal with it. Other than that, I'm ready to go kick some evil digimon into next week." Tai told Izzy confidently, sounding completely normal.

"Ok, good." Izzy replied, and then turned to Tai. "Oh yea, I got a message yesterday from Tentomon, and he says Agumon is back to full health, and is having to be restrained from going after the digimon that attacked the two of you."

"That's good to hear that he's back to feeling good." Tai said with a laugh at his partner. All of our partners had returned to the digital world to help keep a look out for the digimon that had attacked Tai.

Just then there was a knock on the door as the first digidestined arrived.

~Scene Change!~~

Everyone was reclining somehow in Tai's bedroom, as the eleven of us attempted to see Izzy's computer. Mimi, unfortunately, couldn't be here since America's schools had already returned from their winter break, but Joe had his computer to email her updates as to what was happening.

"Ok, so here's the message from Gennai." Izzy said, then clicked on the little message icon on his computers desktop.

A digital version of Gennai, the young Gennai we had all been introduced to at Christmas last year, appeared.

"Greetings Digidestined!" The image said, and then continued. "Come to my home in the digital world as soon as possible!" After that the image completely disappeared.

The room was in complete silence, until Davis spoke up.

"So…that was the big important message?" He said, from where he was squished in between Tai's bed and the wall.

"Well Davis, it is pretty important, he's letting us know to meet at his house." Izzy replied, opening a digiport on his computer. "We should head there right away."

"Izzy's right, everyone, digivices out!" Tai exclaimed, pulling his digivice out.

"Hold it just a second!" I exclaim, stepping in between Tai and the computer. "You're not going anywhere Tai, you're too injured."

"But…" Tai started, only to have Kari stand up next to me.

"No buts Tai, Sora's completely right. What's going to happen when we all land in a giant pile in the digital world, and you re-break your leg?" She asked, and Tai's mouth snapped shut. "I'm sorry Tai, but you're just going to have to stay here."

Tai looked down, then nodded his head. Kari patted his shoulder before turning to everyone else.

"Ok guys, let's go."

As right as I knew it was having Tai stay behind I knew it wasn't making him feel good at all to be left useless like this. It was almost exactly like when Davis and the others had first become digidestined. We had been rendered almost useless then, and all of us had felt bad, but Tai had felt the worst, though he hadn't showed it. We'd talked about it as a group, and he had been the one to snap everyone out of it, and cheer them up, but when we had been walking home, he'd told me how he really felt and it was pretty bad.

We'd all gotten over that, but I remembered the look in Tai's eyes from that day, and could only imagine that he had the same look in his eyes right now.

"I'm actually going to stay." I declare as everyone else gathers around the computer. Everyone looks at me, and I just smile. "Go ahead, I'll make sure Tai doesn't try to pull any wheelies while you guys are gone." Tai had attempted that joke on all the other Digidestined as they arrived at the apartment.

The others looked confused for a second, then nodded, and in a flash of light they were all gone, leaving Tai and I behind.

_Ok so there we go. Hopefully that was enjoyable, a little bit of plot connection and then some (hopefully) funny stuff. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Let me know if you did! or if you didn't! or anything at all! Lol_

_Preview!_

"_**Hey Izzy, where do we go from here?" Matt asked as we looked around, and I thought it was a good question. After all, where did Gennai even live? Did he live in some sort of house, or a tree like Tentomon? Maybe it was a cave, who knows?**_

"_**Desperado Blaster!" I hear Paildramon's twin voices shout, just as the sound of dozens of energy blasts sings through the air. I hazard a glance up to see Paildramon clearing out the largest chunks of ground before they hit any of us Digidestined.**_

_Review Replies!_

_Supershooter: Well thank you very much. I'll try and do my best for that! Hopefully it made the whole day not just the first part of it!_

_NovelistOfTheSky: Thank you very much!_

_TaioraWarrior: Thanks! Lol yea, I felt that it was something that needed to happen, a sort of make up from Sora. I was debating between what I did and a full up rendition of her Crest, but this works out better actually. And aren't you the lucky one lol. Did Gennai's message surprise you? lol I hope so._

_i lov Wizardmon: did you see what happened? lol_


	7. Doumon's Warning

_Disclaimer: I do not own digimon._

_So it's Sunday once again, and I'm sure all of you are eagerly sitting at your computers waiting for this chapter to come out…haha not! Oh well, enjoy the show!_

**Chapter 7 Doumon's warning**

_Davis_

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" _Thud_

_Now that didn't feel good at all…_ I think to myself as I lay on the ground.

"AAAAHHH!" I hear from above me, and just close my eyes. There is a sudden weight landing on top of me, and it increases eight more times before stabilizing.

"Is everyone ok?" A voice that sounded like Mimi asks from the top of the pile.

_Izzy must have opened a digiport for her to join us…_ I think to myself.

"Yea, I think so…Where's Davis?" Another voice asks, and that's my cue for a painful grunt, causing everyone to scramble off of me.

I stand up, wiping the dirt from the ground off of me, and looking around. The TV we had travelled through was not on the ground like it usually was, but rather up in a tree.

"Davis, you ok?" Ken asks, and I nod. Sure having eight people land on top of you never felt good, but I was tougher than that.

"Yea, I'm fine." I tell him as we all look around. We were in a part of the digital world that I had never seen before. It was completely peaceful, a rather bright forest with lots of spacing between the trees, letting light shine down to the forest floor. All around I could hear sounds of animals, or rather digimon I guess, in the distance. It was almost hard to believe that any part of the digital world could be this normal looking. There were not random signs or street cars, or telephone poles, just a normal forest.

"Hey, Izzy, are you sure that we're in the digital world." I asked, looking at the normal forest we were in.

"Davis, we just came out of a TV, where else could we be?" Cody spoke up for Izzy, answering my question.

"Yea, well, this place just seems too normal for the digital world." I reply, justifying my question. Of course a second after I said that a number of little floating bulbs flew right past our group, singing. "Never mind." I said as the bulbs passed us by.

"Hey Izzy, where do we go from here?" Matt asked as we looked around, and I thought it was a good question. After all, where did Gennai even live? Did he live in some sort of house, or a tree like Tentomon? Maybe it was a cave, who knows?

Izzy and Matt started talking about locating Gennai's home, and I turned to Ken and T.K., both of whom were standing right by me, waiting for Izzy to give us a direction to head in.

"So what do you guys think Gennai's house looks like? I bet it's like some massive cave or something!" I start telling the two of them, too bored to not talk to someone.

Ken look slightly intrigued by that idea, but T.K. gave me a grin.

"A cave?" He asked, and I nodded. "Well, I bet he has a house at the bottom of a lake."

"A house at the bottom of a lake?" I asked. I'd seen some crazy things in the digital world, but that would certainly take the cake if it turned out to be true. I still felt that the cave was more likely.

"That sounds pretty unlikely T.K." Ken said, adding his two cents to the conversation. T.K. just smiled at him.

"Ok then, how about a little bet, if I'm right you both have to admit that basketball's a better sport than soccer, and come be cheerleaders at my next game. If I'm wrong I have to do the same thing for soccer." T.K. said, extending his hand with a grin still on his face.

That's an easy decision for me; I shake T.K.'s hand, grinning myself. "Ok T.K., you better get ready to borrow Kari's cheerleading outfit."

Ken though, looked at T.K. thoughtfully, and then decided to shake his hand as well. At that point Matt and Izzy had figured out which direction to head, and lead all of us out, moving at a decent place.

"So Izzy, are our digimon going to meet us at Gennai's?" Joe asked as the nine of us moved through the forest.

"I actually don't know, you guys saw everything that I've heard from Gennai." Izzy replied, just before we heard a shout from up ahead of us.

"Izzy!" We all look up to see Tentomon, with Veemon and Wormmon, standing up in front of us.

"Tentomon!" Izzy shouted, being the first person to see the digimon.

"Veemon!" I shout with joy, seeing my partner standing up ahead of us. I run up to him, just glad to see him. The last few weeks had been the longest we had been separated in nearly two years, and I was surprised how badly I had missed him.

"Davis!" He shouted, looking just as happy to see me. "You miss me?"

"Maybe a little." I say, "Ok, maybe a lot. Who would have thought it was easier to fall asleep with you snoring in my room?" I finish with a laugh. It really had been different without Veemon around, all of the little things the two of us would constantly do, things like annoying Jun whenever she was around, or spending hours over at the Kamiya's, or just spending an entire afternoon eating, things just weren't the same without my partner around.

Veemon just laughed as I said this. Meanwhile Tentomon and Wormmon had also had their happy reunions with their partners, while the rest of the digidestined watched. That's when I noticed, Tentomon, Veemon, and Wormmon were the only three digimon here.

"Hey Veemon, where are the others?" I ask my partner, and that gets most of the remaining Digidestined's attention.

"They're all coming in from their sectors this afternoon." Veemon replied.

"We're here since we protect this sector. Gennai asked us to come and escort you guys in." Tentomon added, telling us why they were here.

"That's probably a good thing he did, if the digimon that attacked Tai showed up, we would have been defenseless." Izzy remarked.

Seconds after Izzy's comment, there was a rather loud cackling, that sounded like it was coming from all around us.

"What's that?" Yolei asks, looking around. The cackling just gets louder as Yolei asks her question, and I tense up. I may not know what that is, but cackling like that can never be good for our side.

"Exorcism Scrolls!" a voice shouts out, just as dozens of pieces of paper are thrown into the air around us.

"Everyone get down!" Someone shouts, and I take the unknown person's advice, diving to the ground, with Veemon following me. As I'm diving to the ground I catch a glimpse of the paper, just as every single one of them explodes in the air. If we hadn't dropped to the ground, someone could have gotten killed, or injured. _Just like Tai…_

"Tentomon digivolve to! Kabuterimon!" A flash of light came from where Tentomon had been hovering near Izzy as the little bug digivolved into his champion form.

"Electro-Shocker!" Kabuterimon called out, and there were more flashes. I managed to crawl a little ways away by this point, and finally look up, just as I see Kabuterimon get thrown across the clearing that we were in. On the throwing end was a digimon that I had never seen before. Before I could get a good look at the digimon, it disappeared from sight, just to reappear where Kabuterimon was landing.

It lifted the large Kabuterimon up in its arms without any problem, and threw him into the air, Kabuterimon shouting as it happened.

"Exorcism Scrolls!" The digimon shouted, throwing a number of the slips of paper right at Kabuterimon, all of which stuck to the large bug like digimon. After a second the pieces of paper, which I guess were more of scrolls, exploded, all over Kabuterimon's body.

"Kabuterimon!" Someone, I think it was Izzy, shouted as the large digimon was covered in explosions and smoke.

"Gah! Veemon!" I shout to my partner, holding out my digivice. My partner ran up from where he had just picked himself up off of the ground, jumping into the clearing just as the light from my digivice hit him.

"Veemon digivolve to! ExVeemon!" Veemon emerged from the light much taller, with a large x covering his chest, a larger horn, and a pair of white wings on his back.

"Vee-Laser!" ExVeemon shouted as he attacked with his ranged laser attack. The x shaped laser hit the ground just in front of the attacking digimon, who managed to jump out of its way before it hit.

"Vee-Laser!" ExVeemon keeps attempting to hit the digimon, but it manages to avoid his attack every time he fires. Suddenly it lands in between me and ExVeemon, and sends ExVeemon flying into one of the trees in the clearing.

I was left standing next to the digimon, who turned to look at me. It was the first good look I'd gotten of the digimon. Its entire body, and the clothing that it wore, was black or white, almost as if it had been drained of color, leaving the digimon completely devoid of any other color. It seemed to have the body of a fox, including a rather bushy tail, and was clothed in a fairly ridiculous outfit, looking like some sort of wizard or shaman.

I took a deep breath as the digimon turned to look at me, raising what looked like a paintbrush in its hands up to a striking position.

"Davis!" Someone shouted from the clearing, I still couldn't figure out where anyone was, except the injured ExVeemon and the digimon that was about to kill me, so I didn't know who it was.

"Spiking Strike!" A voice shouted just before a green blur crashed into the digimon, and both went flying. The digimon crashed into a tree, while Stingmon, the green blur, hovered in the air above it.

"Davis!" A voice shouted from just behind me, and I turn to see Ken running up to me, and a put on a grin.

"Great timing Ken!" I exclaim loudly. "Now how about we show this thing why you don't mess with us?"

Ken nodded, a smile forming on his face as well, and we both turned towards our digimon.

"ExVeemon!" I shout to my partner, who was just picking himself up.

"Stingmon!" Ken shouted to his hovering partner.

"Digivolve!" We shout in unison, just as our digivices let out a flash of light, which covered both of our digimon.

"ExVeemon! Stingmon! DNA Digivolve to! Paildramon!" The two champion level digimon had combined together into a DNA digimon. His body combines the features and attributes of their bodies, using ExVeemon's wings, body, and tail, and Stingmon's shoulders, hands, and thighs. He had four wings, two blue and two white, his face was covered with a red mask, and a pair of powerful looking blasters hung at his hips, ready for use.

"Someone call for animal control?" Paildramon asked in an attempt at humor. I was a little too caught up in the moment to care about the bad joke, instead deciding to join in.

"Looks like you're out of luck now you weird fox!" I shout gleefully as Paildramon finishes forming. Not many digimon were able to stand up to the power of Paildramon, and this one would be no different.

The digimon that had been attacking us stopped, and stared right at Paildramon as he hovered above it.

"So the Mutant appears." The digimon said in a soft voice, almost too quietly for me to hear it. Of course I did, as did Paildramon.

"Who're you calling a mutant?" He asked in the twin voices of ExVeemon and Stingmon, glaring down at the digimon.

"You." The digimon continued in its soft and very quiet voice.

"Why you…" Paildramon said, diving down at the digimon, extending one of the spikes held above his hands. "Sting Strike!"

The fox-like digimon managed to avoid Paildramon's diving attack, summersaulting backwards out of the way. As it landed it pulled out the giant paintbrush it had earlier.

"What's that crazy fox going to do, paint his face?" I ask laughing, and Ken doesn't seem quite as amused, in fact he seemed concerned.

The digimon paints a symbol in the air, which stays there glowing with an evil glow that I'm starting to not like in the least.

"Paildramon! Back off!" Ken shouts towards our digimon, who does as Ken tells him, just as the digimon attacks.

"Demonic Gate!" The digimon said, its voice undergoing a weird mutation into something much less soft as it attacked. The symbol launched itself forward, hitting where Paildramon had been standing moments before and destroyed a good portion of the surrounding ground, or rather blowing up that ground.

I ducked for cover as dozens of chunks from the ground flew out in all directions.

"Desperado Blaster!" I hear Paildramon's twin voices shout, just as the sound of dozens of energy blasts sings through the air. I hazard a glance up to see Paildramon clearing out the largest chunks of ground before they hit any of us Digidestined.

The attacking digimon, whose name I was really starting to want to know, jumped towards Paildramon as he was clearing out the debris, and luckily Paildramon seemed to have been anticipating this. He swiftly delivered a kick to the jumping fox digimon, which sent it crashing into the ground.

"Alright Paildramon!" I shout, cheering on my digimon. He turned towards the falling fox, powering up his blasters once more.

"Desperado Blaster!" He shouts, unleashing dozens of blue energy blasts that hit the falling fox, causing explosions all around and on the digimon. He keeps the fire on the digimon for nearly twenty seconds, just to make sure the digimon had no chance of surviving that attack.

The rest of the digidestined had started to emerge from where they had been ducking for cover. Mostly from behind several different types of trees, though in one case it appears that Joe and Cody had actually been inside a tree. Anyways, all of us emerged from where we had been waiting, looking to where Paildramon was still hovering, watching the smoke filled area that should hold the collapsed data of the digimon.

Ken and I headed over to where Matt and Izzy were standing, helping Tentomon off of the ground.

"Izzy, do you have any idea who that was?" Matt asked as he finished picking the injured Tentomon up off of the ground.

"No, and I haven't had the opportunity to check yet either." Izzy replied a little irritated. Ken and I ran up to the two of them at this point.

"Good work you two," Matt started to say to us as we ran up, but he was cut off by the digimon bursting out of the smoke that the Desperado Blasters had put up around it. It landed a kick right on Paildramon, sending him flying off into the forest somewhere.

"Paildramon!" Ken and I shout in unison as our digimon goes flying.

"Finally, some peace and quiet." The digimon says as it flies back from where it had hit Paildramon, and lands in front of us. It turns to look right at the nine of us gathered, and seems to just survey us.

"Digidestined, I am here to give you a warning." The digimon said, and my eyes narrowed.

"Give us a warning?" I reply to the digimon. Its eyes swivel and fix onto me.

"Yes. My master wishes me to inform you that he no longer wants you to disturb his world. The bearer of Courage has already reaped the consequences of what happens when you violate my master's wishes." The digimon said, and I clenched a fist in anger. So this digimon worked for the same person that had attacked Tai. The digimon turned away, but continued talking. "But my master is a benevolent ruler, and is giving you this one chance to save yourselves before you meet a similar fate."

I stepped forward, getting ready to tell this digimon exactly where it could take its warning, and shove it; but Matt beat me to it.

"So you expect us to turn and run away, just because you show up with a warning like that?" He asks, stepping forward. The digimon turns to regard him, and then nods.

"This is your one and only opportunity." The digimon says, and I noticed something behind its shoulder. Paildramon was back, hovering just behind some of the trees looking for an advantage. "Leave now and none of you will be hurt."

That didn't really seem to go over well with Matt, who was usually one of the cooler heads with us Digidestined. I guess having his best friend in the hospital for two weeks had really upset Matt more than he let us believe, because he got a lot angrier than he normally would.

"You nearly kill my best friend, and then you expect me to go and run like a little kid?" He asked the digimon, but continued on before it could reply. "Well I got news for you, we're the Digidestined, and it's going to take more than some creep like you to get us to go home."

"Yea!" I shout, jumping up with Matt, and the others did the same.

The digimon regards the nine of us, before nodding. "Very well, I will end this now then."

"I don't think so!" Paildramon shouted, taking that as his cue for a grand entrance. Ken and I's digivices flashed once more as he charged forward, and Paildramon was once more covered in light.

"Paildramon Mega digivolve to!" Paildramon grew in size to massive proportions, keeping the same color scheme of black and blue, but now becoming a massive dragon. His hands and feet extended into massive golden claws, while his head elongated into a much more dragon like structure, covered in a white and red mask. On his back was a massive cannon in between a pair of massive red wings. "Imperialdramon!"

The massive dragon digimon swooped in and grabbed the digimon in one of his massive claws, dragging it away from all of us digidestined.

"Izzy now would be a good time to look through your digimon analyzer." Matt said as Imperialdramon took the digimon into the sky. I listened to the two of them with one ear, while focusing on the battle happening in the sky with the majority of my attention.

Imperialdramon threw the digimon ahead of him as he cleared the forest that we were all still in. With the open skies, and plenty of room to maneuver Imperialdramon was in his element against the digimon. His powerful wings and several powerful ranged attacks would give him an edge over his opponent.

"Take that creep out Imperialdramon!" I shout up to Ken and I's partner, and I can hear his answering growl from the sky. I could tell this digimon had really angered Imperialdramon; usually he would give some response other than a growl, unless he was actually angry.

"Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon shouts as he charges the powerful laser cannon on his back. As it finishes charging it releases dozens of blasts, right at the digimon who was still flying on the trajectory that Imperialdramon had sent it. The blasts flew out from Imperialdramon, covering a wide arc to prevent the digimon for being able to avoid them.

Imperialdramon wasn't the worst shot, in fact he was quite a good shot, but with small targets it was very difficult for him to hit them, so he resorted to a massive application of firepower. His opponents might dodge, or avoid the first several blasts, but eventually they wouldn't dodge one, and then their small size would work against them. Most digimon that got hit by Imperialdramon didn't get back up from where they landed, even if he only hit them once.

All of that had been a strategy that Imperialdramon had worked out during several battles with powerful Ultimates, or the occasional Mega, virus digimon that had disturbed the peace in the digital world. Now he applied it to his newest opponent.

The digimon seemed to have some flying ability as it dodged the first couple of Imperialdramon's blasts, but as I'd just thought about before, no digimon could dodge forever, and finally one of the blasts hit the digimon, causing a fairly big explosion. Imperialdramon kept the fire up though, focusing on the location where he was getting hits, sending blast after blast right at the digimon for nearly ten seconds, when he finally stopped.

"Got it!" Izzy exclaimed from a few feet away from me, and dragged a good portion of my attention back to him.

"The digimon is known as Doumon. It's a Wizard digimon who uses its death-curses to brutally assassinate anyone who gets in its way. Its special attacks are Exorcism Scrolls and Demonic Gate. Apparently it also has many other spells it can call forth, but they're not listed here." Izzy replies, reading off the data he has for our opponent, Doumon.

"One other thing." Izzy said, still looking at his computer screen. "This data says that Doumon is only an Ultimate level digimon."

"What?" Matt asks from next to Izzy, and I find myself looking at Izzy as well. An Ultimate level? No way, this thing was way too strong for a simple Ultimate level.

"Exorcism Scrolls!" I hear Doumon's voice shout, just before a number of its little red scrolls hit Imperialdramon, causing explosions to occur all over him.

"No way…" Joe said as Imperialdramon is covered by the blasting scrolls. Doumon comes into view, looking pretty beat up. Its robes were ripped and singed along with its once bushy tail, but it was still very much alive, something I didn't believe.

"Imperialdramon!" Ken shouted seconds after Joe, worried about our joint partner. Me? Yea I was concerned, but I was also starting to get really pissed at this digimon.

"Take it up a notch guys!" I shout towards Imperialdramon, and Ken and I's digivices started glowing together for the third time that morning.

"Imperialdramon Mode Change to!" The smoke cleared as Imperialdramon's basic shape changed. His legs straightened out and his arm grew more flexible as he took on a more humanoid form. The Positron Laser Cannon on his back transferred down onto his right arm, and he seemed to sprout hands. "Fighter Mode!"

Imperialdramon was now fully recharged, and headed right at Doumon, much faster than he had while in Dragon mode.

"Splendor Blade!" A golden blade of energy extended from Imperialdramon's left arm, similar to Stingmon's Spiking Strike, and he attempted to hit Doumon with the blade. Doumon pulled out its paint brush, and countered the Splendor Blade, just before the two entered into a furious hand to hand struggle.

"Izzy, if that's an Ultimate, how can it even come close to competing with Imperialdramon?" Matt asked the computer whiz, who was still typing away at his computer.

"I don't know…" Izzy replied, slamming the top of his laptop down, which was a sure sign of his frustration. He didn't let me or Tai for that matter, near his computers for the very reason that he said we would damage them somehow, and to see him purposely do something that could end up damaging his laptop was a sure sign of frustration.

"Izzy, how about we scan Doumon, and check its power levels." Ken spoke up, turning his head slightly from where he was watching Imperialdramon. Izzy snapped his fingers as Ken said this.

"Right! I forgot about the scanning equipment I brought!" Izzy said, and turned to his back pack, pulling out several weird looking contraptions, that screamed don't touch, at least to me they did.

He pointed it up towards Doumon, and pressed several buttons. He stared at the screen for several seconds while Imperialdramon continues his close range duel with Doumon, then…

"Prodigious…" Izzy said, using his catch phrase. "Doumon is an Ultimate level digimon, but its power levels have been boosted almost to the same level as Imperialdramon." Izzy exclaimed, and I looked back up at my digimon.

The only times we had fought digimon nearly as powerful as Imperialdramon, or even more powerful, had been when we fought BlackWarGreymon and MaloMyotismon, both of whom had almost succeeded in destroying the digital world. What would this Doumon be capable of? And how did it go so strong?

"How's that possible?" I vocalize, breaking the silence.

"I don't know Davis." Izzy replied honestly, and I nod.

"Well, we might as well make sure it doesn't matter." I say, looking up towards Imperialdramon. "Imperialdramon!"

Imperialdramon shoots a glance down at me, then nods as well, bringing his right arm up. His left arm currently had Doumon's brush in a block, but his right arm was completely free.

"Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon let out a blast of energy, which separated him from Doumon. Doumon was sent spinning downwards, looking even more damaged from the close range blast. It wasted little time in stabilizing itself though, and looked back up to where Imperialdramon was waiting.

"Giga Crusher!" Imperialdramon had extended his most powerful weapon from the dragon's mouth on his chest, and was aiming it right at Doumon. The blast was white hot as it shot towards Doumon, who held up one of its red Scrolls.

"Shield Scroll!" It shouted just as the attack hit it. A massive explosion covered Doumon, and there was no way it could have survived.

Imperialdramon however remained on his guard, watching until the smoke from the blast had completely receded showing nothing but empty space, before landing in the now deserted clearing. He glowed for a second before splitting into Chibomon and Leafmon.

I catch the small blue ball that is Chibomon, while Ken catches Leafmon.

"Did we do good Davis?" Chibomon asked in his tired voice.

"Yea, you were great buddy." I tell the little blue digimon.

"You too Leafmon." Ken tells his partner as he stands right next to me. We spend a few minutes making sure everyone is ok before heading back on our trip to Gennai's house.

Tentomon, who was almost fully recovered by the time the battle was over, lead the group, with everyone keeping up pretty well. No one wanted to say it, but we all wanted to get to Gennai's house and out of the open where we could get attacked.

Everyone was mostly quiet on the way to Gennai's home, but as we finally excited the forest Matt dropped back to the back of the group, where I was walking.

"Hey Davis? You ok?" Matt asks as he starts walking next to me. Matt wasn't the easiest person to get to actually talk to you, but once you were part of his circle of close friends he'd do pretty much anything for you, and I had become part of that circle over the last few months, so him asking that didn't surprise me in the least.

"Yea, why?" I ask in my usual tone of voice.

"Well, you just seemed different back there." Matt replied, gesturing towards the forest, and I realized what he was talking about. I know people always think that I don't really pay attention to anything, or that I'm just a klutz who's around for a good adventure, and I'm not denying any of that, but over the last year or so I'd been changing a bit. Sure I still loved to goof off, and have fun adventures, but I also had a more serious side. It was mostly in the digital world, because honestly it was the first time I had ever been given responsibility for anything, let alone an entire world, and I took that responsibility seriously. So I really could think about things seriously, despite how much Yolei would say that is completely impossible.

Matt and the others hadn't really been around me for any of the patrols in the digital world, so they had never seen my…uh…serious face I guess you'd call it.

"You haven't been patrolling with me in a while Matt." I reply with a laugh. "I take my responsibilities to the digital world pretty seriously, and well I guess that was my serious face." I'm rubbing the back of my head now as I laugh, because honestly that sounds ridiculous.

Matt looks at me, then slaps my back and starts laughing as well.

"Davis, you never cease to surprise me." He said while laughing. We caught up with the others at this point, all of whom were standing at the edge of a lake.

"What did you guys stop for?" I ask, walking up to the group.

"We're here." Tentomon replies and I look at him confused. I don't see a cave, or a house, or anything but a lake here. I look around the others to see if their blocking it, but still see nothing.

"Where?" I ask again, just as the lake seems to open up. A stairwell leads straight down into the lake, with fish floating in the water walls on either side. My mouth is open as I view this, and I slowly turn to T.K., who's grinning at the look on my face, and I imagine the look on Ken's face.

"Looks like I win." T.K. said with a laugh.

_Well hopefully that satisfied everyone's thirst for an action sequence. I know that's all the chapter really was, but it did introduce a fairly major player on the part of the bad guys. Well, until next week!_

_Preview:_

"_**Hey mom, me and Sora are going to go get some food real quick. See you in a bit!" I called out, motioning for Sora to keep pushing me out the door. "Hold it right there you two." My mom said, causing Sora to stop out forward momentum. "Just what makes you think that you're in any condition to go out Tai?"**_

_**Sora sits up all the way as I say that. "What could be burning out her…" Sora trailed off and I'm pretty sure she had the same idea as me. "Primary Village!" We say at the same time, quickly getting to our feet. I didn't even want to think what could be happening over in Primary Village if that burning smell was indeed coming from it.**_

_Review Replies!_

_Lachelle92: Well thank you, I'm glad someone appreciates my humor, and yea…your supposed to, so I guess that's working._

_TaioraWarrior: Lol, that's all you got? Well I guess that's understandable, you can be occasionally narrow minded…jk lol. Did you ever figure out the part you were going to comment on by any chance? And yea, they haven't been dating long enough for Sora to really get used to the control she can exert over Tai, though she is a fast learner, so she'll be able to use it more as the story goes on. AND I UPDATE WHEN I WANT! Lol or at around midnight my time lol._

_Supershooter: Yea, I think he does like his consolation prize, not that Sora would appreciate being called that lol. And your quite right. And it'll span more than just two chapters since I wanted to get a bit of action in for everyone. And I think you'll be surprised when you read the next chapter about Tai and Sora._

_Zeobide274: Yea, it does suck about Tai, but he's a trooper, he'll make it through. And your guess is very good, though all will not be reviled for quite a while. And yea it would be, but I'm focusing Davis towards other things, as this chapter demonstrates, than relationships. He's gotten more serious and he and Matt will be the two people who don't have a significant other to worry about, just their friends, and that'll be good for action scenes. _


	8. Picnic

_Well, it's Sunday once more, which everyone knows means a new chapter of this story, so here it is, Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: In Soviet FanFiction, story disclaim you!_

**Chapter 8 Picnic**

_Tai_

I blinked a time or two as the flash from the digiport left my retinas. Now it was just Sora and I in my room, and I was actually ok with that. Sure, I really felt that I should be going with the others to hear what Gennai had to say, but I understood traveling to the digital world might not be the best thing for me right now. After all, would my wheelchair even travel through the gate with me? And if it did, would the terrain really be good for a wheelchair? I think not. Plus, Sora stayed behind with me.

I did feel just a little bad about that, since I was keeping Sora from participating with everyone else, but it was nice to have some time with just her. We hadn't had a lot of that recently since someone had always been over to check on how I was doing, so it was nice to have.

"Well, looks like it's just me and you." I said with a smile towards Sora, who returned the smile.

"It does." She replied. "So what do you want to do?"

I paused from an instant response. What could I do? I was a cripple with a broken arm and a broken leg confined to a wheelchair. There wasn't exactly anything other than wheel around that I could do.

"I got nothing." I said rather lamely after a few seconds, and Sora let out a giggle.

"Yea, most of our normal activities are a little too physical for you aren't they?" Sora asked a grin still on her face.

"Yea just a little." I reply, and Sora's grin gets even bigger. That's when I realize what she just got me to admit to. "When I'm crippled!" I quickly add before she can add another joke.

"I was wondering if you'd catch that." Sora said still smiling, and I shook my head.

"I think it's a hunger induced slowing of the mind." I reply, gesturing to where my mother's snacks had gone completely uneaten by us digidestined. Most of the others had either tried my mother's food, or heard stories from people who had, and knew not to try any of the food.

"And what do you expect me to do about it?" Sora replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I was thinking you could let me take you out to this restaurant…" I said, trailing off with a grin.

"Tai Kamiya, are you asking me on a date?" Sora asked, showing mock shock as she asked that.

"Well, unless you call a boyfriend going out to eat with his girlfriend something else…" I was grinning at her now, and she just shook her head.

That was somewhat of a running joke between the two of us. Our relationship wasn't exactly conventional; after all we'd known each other since we were six and been best friends that entire time. That fact just made things different for the two of us. Neither of us wanted to lose our best friend to this relationship, or let the other go just for the sake of our friendship, so we just did things our own way and it usually worked. We didn't really go on dates that often, in fact we just went out to eat with each other without calling it an official date more often than we had even thought about going on official dates.

"Well in that case, I get to pick the restaurant." Sora said, referring to the fact that I almost always picked the restaurant, since I was the one driving, and the one paying. Luckily our tastes were very similar so it wasn't really a big problem for her.

"And no buts." Sora added as I opened my mouth to argue for arguments sake. "If you want me to take you someplace so you can fill up that bottomless pit you call a stomach, you'll grin and agree."

I was sure my eye was twitching, similar to the movie night the other night, but I simply nodded and grinned, though I made sure it was a pained one.

"That's a good Tai." Sora said, patting my head patronizingly, and I gave her the death glare as she did so. She was grinning even more now, and honestly that grin was too infectious, so much so I couldn't even give her my famous death glare for more than a few seconds before I was beaming back at her.

"If I'd known I could get you to do what I wanted just by smiling at you, I never would have had to wait to use the soccer ball way back when…" Sora said thoughtfully as she pushed my chair out of my room.

"Please don't remind me that you can do that now." I said with a sigh as Sora wheeled me out of my room into the living room.

"Awe, it's only cause you love me." Sora said, just before leaning down and giving me a quick peck on the lips.

"True." I said, grinning as well now as we faced my mother who was in the kitchen. She had been keeping me cooped up in the apartment pretty much from the minute that I'd gotten back from the hospital, so since yesterday, and we'd need her permission to go out.

"Hey mom, me and Sora are going to go get some food real quick. See you in a bit!" I called out, motioning for Sora to keep pushing me out the door.

"Hold it right there you two." My mom said, causing Sora to stop our forward momentum. "Just what makes you think that you're in any condition to go out Tai?"

"Um…I won't be walking?" I replied, trying my best to look innocent. My mother gave me one of her over protective looks, and I was starting to think we would be stuck here, with my mother's food. That second thought caused me to shudder just thinking about it.

"Don't worry Mrs. Kamiya, I'll make sure Tai behaves, and doesn't do anything stupid." Sora said, giving my mother her best innocent look. My mother smiled at Sora, and seemed to accept that.

"Ok, but don't stay out too long, and no trying to walk Tai!" My mother told us, and Sora started wheeling me out the door.

"Ok mom!" I shouted over my shoulder as Sora pushed me out the door and out towards the elevator.

Of course I should have known something would happen as Sora and I headed for the elevator. You see, our dates never went smoothly, something always interrupted it, or blew up the restaurant, or just plain was in the way. This time, it was the last one.

"Come on, work!" Sora shouted at the, out of order, elevator, which refused to obey her command. Personally I felt that was a bad decision on the part of the elevator. It obviously had no idea what Sora was capable of.

"You know Sora, we could always use the stairs…." I started to say, but trailed off as she looked back at me. The anger that had been directed at the elevator was suddenly directed straight at me.

Luckily Sora took a breath before yelling, so she just shook her head.

"Tai, even if we could do that without you breaking something else, which I might remind you would leave you crippled even longer, how are we going to get you back up the stairs?" She asked. I thought carefully for a moment before responding. Usually I would argue for arguments sake, like earlier, but right now Sora did not look happy, and she was right. So I phrased the next bit carefully.

"Yea, you're right." I sighed, and Sora turned me back around. I could tell she wasn't all that happy about not being able to go out either. I suppose that was probably mostly my fault.

You see, she wouldn't be so disappointed if we dated more often, and I'm mostly the reason we didn't do that. We'd just get so caught up in hanging out that dating, or rater going out on dates, didn't come into my mind at all.

Of course, that's when brilliance struck me, and I got a sudden idea.

"Hey Sor, I have an idea to sorta make up for this!" I said with a smile.

"Really?" She asked, sounding excited.

"Yep! We'll have a picnic!" I replied, and I'm pretty sure Sora almost tripped on something.

"Tai, we can't exactly go anywhere." Sora replied, and her tone of voice made it sound like she was talking to a child.

"Ah, that's where you're wrong." I replied with a grin, and gestured with my good hand to my apartment. "You just get a basket together, and I'll handle everything else."

Sora gave me a look that told me she was a little skeptical of my idea, but then nodded.

"Ok Tai, I'll try this."

She went into the kitchen, and I wheeled myself into my room. It would take a minute to reconfigure the digiport to put us somewhere else, but it shouldn't be that difficult.

_Let's see, Izzy usually just presses this button here, and it…oh crap, no don't turn off you stupid computer!_ And so began my battle with the digiport program. Izzy really did make it look much easier than it turned out to be, but I didn't crash the entire thing this time, so I counted it as a victory for me and digimon stuff on the computer.

"You know, if you'd asked for some help I could have helped you with that." A voice, Sora's to be exact, said from behind me.

"Well, that would have ruined the surprise, which is ruined anyways." I replied, giving her a smile, which she returned.

"Well, it was a nice thought, so thanks." More smiling as she said this, but her smile turned into her a frown as she looked at the computer. "Unfortunately I don't think it's a good idea for you to go into the digital world."

"Oh come on Sor." I said, and then busted out the chain of logic, yes I am capable of those so go ahead and stop coughing to hide your laughter, and started talking. "I was thinking, we need to see if I can travel to the digital world at all, because we're going to need everyone, including me, on board for this battle. Plus, it's only to Primary Village, so there won't be any danger at all, so I won't get reinjured. And if there are any problems we'll be right next to the TV and can get out of there!"

Sora looked at me, and then the computer, glancing back and forth between us as she considered the options.

"Come on Sor, I know how much you've always wanted a picnic around Primary Village." I pleaded with her, and I could see I'd convinced her.

_Hehe, being her best friend helped me for once…_ I thought to myself with an internal laugh.

"Ok Tai, but if there's any sign of danger we're leaving, no ifs, ands, or buts." Sora said, giving me her stubborn look. I knew more than enough to argue with her when she got that look on her face, so I just nodded.

She grabbed a hold of my hand and we held up our digivices to the computer screen together, and we were instantly sucked into it.

~Digital World~

I landed on my back as the portal spat me out, Sora's hand still clutched in mine, and I noticed several things right away.

First the low intensity pain that I had been feeling since I woke up in the hospital was suddenly gone. That was a pleasant surprise. Next my casts were both gone, and I could actually move both my arm and my leg without so much as a flicker of pain shooting through my body. Yet again a pleasant surprise. Finally, I wasn't wearing the same clothes I had been a second before, which considering that I had been in rather baggy sweats…was sort of just a surprise.

I quickly jumped to my feet to test out if I could really walk, and almost shouted with joy as my leg supported itself and me without a problem.

"Tai what are you doing?" Sora shouted as I jumped up, but when I didn't fall down with a shout of pain she just stared. I actually returned the favor, mostly from surprise.

She had gone through an outfit change, almost like the younger guys when they came to the digital world. It wasn't anything drastic, in fact she had just traded the skirt she had been wearing for some jeans and the blue shirt she had been wearing was exchanged for a yellow one.

"Why's your outfit different?" I ask her, just as she asks the same thing.

"What do you mean different?" We say in unison once more, and then we both stop. We look at each other, then down at ourselves, and then back at each other, then we burst out laughing. The situation was comical if you thought about it.

I could see that instead of the sweats I was wearing before, I was wearing one of my normal blue shirts with stars on them, with a longer, darker blue shirt underneath. My pants were now a pair of grey jeans, and I was wearing sneakers instead of the slipper and cast I had been wearing. In fact, it was pretty much identical to the outfit I had worn the last time I was in the digital world, you know, when I almost died.

I was actually happy about that, since this outfit was one of my favorites.

"This is weird." Sora said, and I looked up, noticing that she was examining her own outfit.

"You can say that again," I replied, pulling both of my hands behind the back of my head, something I hadn't been able to do for a few weeks now. "I mean, all my injuries are fixed!"

Sora seemed to remember that fact, because she was standing next to me before I even realized she had moved, and was running her hand on my arm.

"That's amazing!" She exclaimed as she felt that my bone was perfectly fine.

"You're telling me, I can actually walk…" I said, paying more attention to my leg. I felt that was understandable since it was the one the effected my life the most.

"How is this possible?" Sora asked me, though I really don't know why.

"Sora," I said simply, raising an eyebrow at her, and she giggled.

"Sorry, we'll ask Izzy when they get back." She said, and I just shook my head.

"Yep, but you know what this means…" I said, leaning down to pick up the picnic basket.

"…Better picnic!" She exclaimed, grabbing my free hand as the two of us headed to find a good picnic spot.

What followed was a fun picnic. The two of us were able to relax with each other, and be ourselves. It was amazing just how relaxed we could be with each other, even after all of this time.

"This is great." I commented as I leaned against a tree, Sora leaning up against me.

"Mmmmm," Sora replied, her head laid across my chest. I had an arm wrapped around her and I honestly couldn't imagine a better place to be right then.

A few seconds later she lifted her head though.

"Tai?" She asked quietly, and I jumped a little. Honestly I had been falling asleep then and there and her sudden movement and calling my name had startled me out of my sleep.

"Yea, I'm up." I say quickly, causing another giggle out of Sora.

"Sorry," She said, and I just smiled at her.

"It's fine Sor, what's up?" I reply, not really bothered by her startling me, it was just my standard reaction for when that happened to me in school, which was pretty often.

"I was wond…do you smell that?" Sora said, suddenly changing her sentence as a strange smell floated over to us. I picked up on it almost as soon as she asked what that smell was and wondered what exactly it was."

"Yea," I replied getting another whiff of the smell, and suddenly recognizing it. "It smells like something's burning."

Sora sits up all the way as I say that. "What could be burning out her…" Sora trailed off and I'm pretty sure she had the same idea as me.

"Primary Village!" We say at the same time, quickly getting to our feet. I didn't even want to think what could be happening over in Primary Village if that burning smell was indeed coming from it.

I grabbed Sora's hand and headed over anyways, because I had to know what was happening, even if I didn't want to. Of course the fact that neither of us had our digimon with us was a very big inconvenience, but there wasn't anything we could do about that at this moment.

We both ran as fast as we could to the hill that was the main separation between us and Primary Village. As we ran towards it I could pick out the smoke rising from beyond the hill, all but screaming to me that Primary Village was burning on the other side of the hill.

I slowed my pace, and slowed down Sora with me. She responded to me dragging her back, turning towards me.

"What?" She asked in a whisper, which seemed appropriate to me this close to the source of the smoke.

"I want you to wait here." I reply in a whisper.

"WHAT?" She manages to whisper shout.

"I want you to wait here." I reply calmly. I was not about to let Sora walk into danger without a digimon to protect her, and she was going to have to accept that.

"I am not going to wait here and let you go and get hurt again!" Sora said, squeezing my hand tighter.

"I'm not going to get hurt this time Sora, I'm going to just see what's happening, not try and attack anyone." I tell her and she starts to reply to that, but I hold up a hand. "And I want you to stay here so I can focus on not getting hurt."

Sora had closed her mouth as I finished speaking, and then nodded jerkily.

"See, I was just being selfish," I say grinning at her. I saw the brief glimmer of a smile tug at her lips, and squeezed her hand.

"Be careful." She says just before pulling me in for a longer than normal kiss, which surprised me. Even after all this time I still wasn't completely used to actually kissing Sora, but I quickly returned the kiss, waiting until she broke our embrace, and then pulled the rest of the way apart. I gave her hand a final squeeze before letting go.

I worked my way up the hill quickly, and when I got towards the top, I got lower. All of those action movies I had watched in the hospital would finally come in handy as I snuck up on the village. I dropped down to a crawl as I reached the top of the hill. Unfortunately there were still a lot of trees that were blocking my view, so I kept crawling forward.

Working down the hill was not quite as much fun as I expected, the whole crawling thing was a lot more exhausting than it looked, but eventually I made my way to the bottom. Around that time I was finished with crawling, and just kept sorta crouched as I moved towards the Village. It was still on the far side of quite a bit of woods, so I still couldn't see anything until I was almost in the village.

I came upon the toy blocks that made up the outer edge of the Village, and I could tell instantly that something was wrong. The blocks, usually made up of all the bright colors you would see and expect in a baby's toy, were all dark grey or black.

_What is going on…_ I wonder to myself as I run up to the wall, running a hand on the blocks, which I instantly pull back. The blocks were cold, and it seemed to go deeper than a surface cold. Touching the block made me feel like my entire body was freezing, despite the relatively nice day outside.

I rubbed my arm as I stepped back from the blocks. I didn't want to be anywhere near those things if I could avoid it. Suddenly there was a crack, like wood breaking, from the other side of the blocks, and I moved towards the nearest entrance.

I got to the entrance and despite the cold pressed my back up against the block, then peeked around the corner for a second.

I spotted some good looking cover just inside the Village, and quickly dashed to it. Unfortunately the cold feeling from touching the blocks seemed to be all over the Village as I entered it. I shivered from the cold as I looked around the corner of my newest bit of cover. I couldn't see anyone or anything as I looked around the corner, so I deemed it safe enough to walk out.

I made my way down the main street of Primary Village, and everything started to come into focus. It was hard to see at first thanks to the smoky haze covering the Village, but as I made my way deeper into the Village I was able to make out the damage to the place. It was bad. Most of the little buildings around the Village had been knocked down, and quite a few of them were burning still, causing the smoke that was visible form where Sora and I were picnicking.

I got closer to one of the squares and thought I saw some movement ahead of me, and quickly jumped behind some more of the blocks that were all over the Village. I spent a second catching my breath, the adrenaline really running through my body now, and leaned out a little bit to try and see what had been in the square. That's when I felt someone grab my shoulder.

I spun around immediately, only to come face to face with Sora, who had jumped back when I'd turned around so suddenly.

"Holy crap Sora." I whisper as I sink back against the freezing cold block.

"Sorry!" She whispered back, looking around, and I could tell she was really uncomfortable being here, hell, so was I; this place was freaking me out the deeper into it I got. And now Sora was in the middle of it, so one more thing for me to worry about.

"Sora, what are you doing here?" I whisper to her, and she looks around before replying.

"If you seriously thought I was going to let you come in here alone after what happened the last time I let you go someplace alone, you're crazy!" She whispered back looking right at me.

I didn't really have a reply as I looked at the determined look on her face. Sure I'd been trying to look out for her, but she was trying to look out for me just as much. And the last time there'd been a situation like this I had convinced her to stay behind, and then almost died.

I never realized just how odd it was to say that. I'd nearly died here in the digital world less than three weeks ago, and yet here I was in a situation that could end in pretty much the same thing happening, without even thinking. Man, what was the matter with me?

"Ok, but don't tell anyone." I reply to Sora after a few seconds.

"What?" She asked, obviously confused for once.

"I'm crazy, don't tell anyone, especially Matt." I say, before letting out a grin. I was trying to ease the obvious anxiety that Sora had with a joke, and the smile I got out of her for a second made me happy.

"Tai, now's not the time to be joking!" Sora said, wearing a stern expression I was pretty sure she saved just for me.

"Ok, calm down…Geez…" I say, giving her the grin I would always wear when she had that expression. I sobered up after that, turning back around. The sooner we figured out what exactly was happening the sooner we could go someplace where Sora would be safe.

I lean around the corner once more, this time not getting surprised by someone grabbing a hold of me, and get a good look at the square. This had obviously been one of the squares baby digimon had lain in their cribs for their time in Primary Village. I said lain for a reason. Most of the cribs that I could see were wrecked, ripped into pieces by some sort of force that had destroyed the entire square. I shuddered thinking about what had happened to all of the baby digimon that had been here in those cribs when it happened.

"Oh shit…" I whisper, mostly to myself, but I'm pretty sure Sora heard me, because I felt a hand on my shoulder as she leaned around. I would have stopped her, but I couldn't move. I was frozen with anger and sorrow at the sight before me.

I heard Sora gasp before pulling back behind the block, and I cursed my weakness. I should have stopped her before she had the opportunity to see that sight.

I ducked back around, hoping I could try and make her feel better, but she was just standing there waiting for me.

"You ok?" I asked, and she jerkily nodded her head, just before jumping forward into my arms.

"What would do that to all the babies?" She whispered, and I could swear that there were tears in her eyes. Sora may have been stronger for the rest of the digidestined, and she really was the least openly tearful of the older digidestined girls, but she still had a connection to this place, we all did.

We had come here to see the rebirth of all the digimon after Primary Village had been destroyed by the Dark Masters…

That's when it hit me. I had seen Primary Village like this once before, devoid of any color, and with all of the cribs and thousands of eggs destroyed. When we were fighting the Dark Masters Primary Village had been left like this.

I clenched a fist in anger as that realization hit me. Someone or digimon was emulating the Dark Masters practice here in Primary Village.

Sora continued to hold tight to me, and I released my clenched fist, instead pulling Sora into a tighter embrace.

"Sshhh. It'll be ok, we'll find the ones who did this and reverse it." I tell her trying to be soothing. In all honesty, I sucked when girls, especially Sora, cried. I usually couldn't take it and needed to hit whatever it was that caused her to cry. Unfortunately whoever had caused it this time was beyond my reach at the moment, so I'd have to try and comfort her.

It took a few minutes, but eventually Sora stopped, and released the hug, rubbing her eyes as she stepped away. I held on to her hand and gave it a squeeze, which she returned.

"Come on, let's get out of here." I tell her, and lead the way towards the entrance we had both used. We move faster than the way in, and we were nearly to the door when I nearly trip over something on the ground.

"What the hell." I say as I barely keep my balance, any other profanity dies on my lips as I see what I had tripped over. It was Elecmon, unconscious on the ground.

"Elecmon!" Sora exclaims, quickly dropping down next to the digimon. I could see his chest still rising and falling so I knew he was alive, but he looked pretty injured.

"Sora, we need to get him out of here, now." I tell her urgently, then bent down and pick up the digimon. I take off for the exit to the village, forgetting stealth, and Sora is right beside me. We make it out and up the hill, and finally down near the TV digital port.

Other than the fact that I was semi running for my life it felt pretty good to make that run at a full sprint. I'm not the biggest fan of running, but not even being able to walk for three weeks, so far, had really given me a different opinion on that. It just felt good to be able to move that fast on my own after so long of depending on others to move me around.

Sora came running up behind me a second or two later, a little more out of breath than me.

"You ready?" I ask her as she takes several deep breathes. She simply nods and holds up her digivice, and I hold up mine as well. A second later we're sucked up by the TV.

~Kamiya Apartment~

The first thing I noticed was the fact that I was moving steadily backwards, away from the computer I had just emerged from. My backwards motion was stopped by a sudden jarring, and I'm pretty sure I'd hit the wall of my room.

The second thing I noticed was the throbbing pain that I had lost when I entered the digital world. Then I noticed that I couldn't move my leg or arm since they were back in their casts. Finally my sweats were back on, just like I had left them.

_Not permanent…_ I thought sadly, and then remembered exactly who I had been carrying when I entered the portal.

"Where's Elecmon?" I ask Sora who looked in better shape though she was back to her normal clothing as well.

"Over there." Sora said, moving over to where the unconscious Elecmon was still on the ground. I looked at the clock on my wall as Sora picked up the digimon and put him on my bed. We'd been gone for nearly three hours, where were the others?

_Oh my…Primary Village gone again, and Elecmon injured? Those are bad enough, but anther CLIFF HANGER! NOOOOOOOO!_

_Preview:_

"_**Izzy, Digidestined, greetings." He said to all of us. "If everyone would follow me, there is much we must discuss, and not much time." Gennai turned as he said this and entered his house. **_

"_**But Gennai, we can't exactly do that anymore. We gave up the powers of our Crests four years ago." Kari said to Gennai, saying what was on all of us original digidestined's minds. "That's what these are for." Gennai replied to Kari, turning the ornate box in front of him around and opening it. Inside were nine nearly identical necklaces.**_

_Review Replies:_

_Zeobide274: Actually I haven't decided yet. They may show up as underlings, but not as big a role as Doumon will have. And yea, All of the digidestined are emotionally compromised though. The others are a family pretty much to them, so everyone has someone to lose in the battles, not just Tai. You'll have to wait to find out the leader with Tai gone. Davis was just taking the lead in the fight since it was his digimon, If you noticed Matt took the lead with finding the information in that chapter. Any revisions on your guess, or does this cement your opinion on who the bad guy is?_

_TaioraWarrior: Hey I did update on time! Lol and that's with finals going on! Lol jk Oh ok, and I thought that we'd already discussed who the master was for this story? Didn't we? And yea, it didn't take Sora long to figure that out, as you saw in this chapter lol. And exactly! Lol_

_Lachelle92: Hey! Don't dis davis! He's a nice guy! Lol and you'll have to wait a little while to find out if Doumon is dead…I couldn't reveal that too soon…_

_Supershooter: was the make up good? Lol and just wait until you see their reaction to losing the bet in the next chapter. Let's just say that someone accidently let's slip that T.K. had already been to Gennai's once before…lol_

_DephsXylex: I'm glad you liked the action. It's something I've been working on, and there will be quite a bit of it in the chapters to come. And I would expect Ken to learn, but Davis…no, not really lol._


	9. New Mission

_Well, yet again it's Sunday (though a little later than you guys are used to I'm sure…blame the nice snowstorm I had to drive through ALL of last night…) and that means update time. Sadly, that is not what follows this message…just kidding, it is. Well, enjoy this chapter!_

_Disclaimer: I didn't get the rights to digimon for Christmas =(_

**Chapter 9 New Mission**

_Matt_

To say watching how Davis acted during the battle in the woods was surprising would be an understatement. Sure the two of us had been becoming better friends, but I'd still only seen him as the big goof ball he normally was, never this serious side. I suppose it makes sense in a way, I mean look at Tai.

During our first adventure in the digital world he definitely showed that he had a much more serious side to him, at least when we were in a battle. It made sense that Davis could have something similar happen to him. Thinking about it I could even realize why it had taken this long for it to actually happen. During our adventure we had been stuck in the digital world, as opposed to the younger guys who were able to go home every night. So he didn't have to grow up as fast as we had, but he had done grown up eventually.

I was actually a little proud of the fact that Davis was growing up; after all I was technically a mentor of his since we shared the Crest of Friendship, sort of.

"GET BACK HERE T.K.!" Davis shouted just as my little brother ran past me straight down the stairs leading to Gennai's house, followed a second later by Davis.

Ok, maybe Davis hadn't grown up quite as much as I was thinking. Ken walked up next to me, watching Davis chase T.K.

"Any idea what that's about?" I ask him as we continue down the stairs after the two boys.

"Yea, T.K. made a bet with me and Davis about Gennai's house. He forgot to inform us that he had been there before." Ken replied quietly. "We wouldn't have known if Mimi hadn't mentioned something."

Izzy and Tentomon both let out a laugh as Ken explains this, and I just shake my head. I couldn't believe that T.K. would play a prank like that.

_I guess hanging out with the Kamiya's so much is starting to affect him…_ I think laughing to myself. _Of course you're really just upset you didn't think of doing that to Davis first. _ Again I laughed to myself. Corruption at the hands of the Kamiya's seemed to run in my family.

The rest of us travel down the staircase, fish swimming in the rather pink water on either side of the staircase. In just a minute or two the eight of us are standing in the garden in the center of Gennai's house while T.K. is still trying to keep away from Davis.

"Come here T.K.!" Davis was saying as the two of them faced each other from opposite sides of a rock. "I don't want to hurt you badly or anything." Davis tried jumping around to one side but T.K. managed to avoid him.

"Davis don't you think you're over reacting just a little bit?" T.K. asked his friend. This actually seemed to cause Davis to stop and think.

_I wonder if T.K. will actually get off that easily… _I thinkto myself as I try not to laugh at the two younger boys.

Davis seemed to come to a decision, and jumped over the rock he was standing opposite of T.K. from. T.K. jumped back himself and went running to the next closest rock.

"Not in the least T.K.! You were going to make me wear a cheerleading outfit!" Davis shouted, and that caused me to lose it.

"A cheerleading outfit?" I said, though laughed would have been a better way to say it.

"Shut it Matt!" Davis shouted towards me from where he was trying to get my brother, causing me, and most of the other digidestined to laugh even harder.

"I can just see it now…" Yolei said laughing the hardest of any of us. Apparently she found the idea of Davis in a cheerleading outfit to be very amusing. Kari though seemed to finally have had enough of one of her best friends trying to get her boyfriend into a stranglehold.

"Davis! T.K.! Stop right now!" She shouted a lot louder than I'd ever heard Kari shout, in fact that might have been the first time I had ever heard Kari shout, period. Of course it didn't really do much. They both glanced at her, then Davis jumped for T.K. once more, and Kari started yelling at them more.

I realize I probably should have done something to break up the fight, after all with Tai gone I was the de facto leader and should stop the fight, though thinking about it I would usually be stopping Tai from fighting with someone else, so I guess I always stopped the fight for our group, but this time I didn't. Why you wonder? It was really funny to watch those two.

It almost reminded me off Tai and I's fights, except our topics of argument were more sensible most of the time and they weren't actually hitting each other.

"Would you two care to stop?" A voice asked, and everyone looked to finally see our host standing before us. Gennai had appeared out of almost nowhere, or at least walked out of his house while all of us had been focused on T.K. and Davis. He was wearing his usual brown robe, which was oddly reminiscent of a Jedi robe from Star Wars. His hood was down as he observed the ten of us in his courtyard.

Davis and T.K. instantly stopped what they were doing, and for some reason I felt everyone around us sober up. There was something more serious about Gennai this time. Usually whenever we saw him he had important information for us, or help of some sort, but the atmosphere usually got a little more comical. The things Gennai said were just too out there to take serious most of the time, but this time something was different.

Izzy took point for us, since the rest of us were pretty much frozen in place.

"Hey Gennai." He said, gaining Gennai's attention.

"Izzy, Digidestined, greetings." He said to all of us. "If everyone would follow me, there is much we must discuss, and not much time." Gennai turned as he said this and entered his house. Izzy looked over to me, and I was reminded that I was the leader with Tai gone.

"Alright let's go!" Davis said, heading after Gennai with T.K., Kari, Ken, Yolei, and Cody following after him.

Ok, I was the leader of the older digidestined while Tai was gone.

"Come on guys," I said to Izzy, Joe, and Mimi, following after the younger kids. Gennai's house was very similar to what I remembered from our one other visit there. The house was very traditional, complete with sliding doors and low tables. In fact it really reminded me of my grandparent's place, except for the fact that it was under water of course.

Inside all of the partner digimon were waiting for us, the younger kid's digimon already with them, while our digimon ran up to us as we entered the main room. I took a minute to hug Gabumon as he ran over to me. To be honest I really had missed my partner. This two week separation had been the longest one for the two of us in nearly a year.

Meanwhile the younger kids were all ogling at everything in the house. T.K. and Kari were watching the fish outside the windows with fascination, along with Gatomon. Yolei was following Ken around while he looked over the map of the digital world with Cody. Finally Davis and all the digimon, minus Gatomon, were salivating at the table full of food that Gennai was standing behind.

"I believe that everyone could use a meal." He said simply, gesturing for everyone to take a seat around the table. His entire demeanor has changed as he smiled at all of us, and I'm thoroughly confused. One minute we don't have enough time, and the next we have time for a sit down dinner? What was going on with Gennai?

Of course we were never ones to say no to food, especially free food, so everyone sat down, though I kept an eye on Gennai. Everyone, including our host, dug into the meal, devouring most of the table's content within fifteen minutes. At that point everyone was sitting back, content with the food they had devoured. Even Davis wasn't asking for more food, which was a first I'm pretty sure.

With the meal out of the way, I wanted some answers from Gennai, and I planned to get them, now.

"So Gennai, you want to tell us why you called all of us here now?" I asked the being in front of us. He had been lounging back; seemingly content from the meal, but my question straightened him up.

"Straight and to the point I see Matt." He said, looking at me from across the table. "Ok, we'll get started." He stood, and gestured for all of us to do the same. All of us rose and followed Gennai into what was some sort of study. It also had a map of the digital world, an even bigger one than the already large one out in the dining room. Not only was it larger, but had several glowing dots and readouts of some sort on it, most of which were unintelligible to me.

"Prodigous." Izzy said simply, heading right for the map, followed closely by Ken and Yolei.

"It a projected screen of the entire digital world, and any spots troubled by darkness." Gennai said simply, explaining the map, or screen to all of us.

"How are you able to detect the darkness?" Ken asked a special interest in that considering his own run-ins with different forms of darkness.

"An underground network that runs throughout the entire digital world. My organization has been active in trying to prevent the darkness from spreading since the digital world came into existence." Gennai replied, surprising me. Gennai never, ever gave straight answers, let alone two of them in one conversation.

I turned away from the screen towards Gennai, and saw that he was seated behind a rather simple desk with a computer screen facing him. On top of the desk, in between Gennai's hands, was a rather ornate box, covered in all sorts of strange digital symbols. They were similar to the ones we had seen on File Island, and again near Etemon's pyramid.

"If you would all find somewhere to sit." Gennai told all of us, and we headed to the seats around his desk, having to drag Izzy and Ken away from the screen.

"Ok Gennai, what's so important." I said, growing more apprehensive as this conversation, discussion, whatever continued to go farther and farther from the norm, at least with Gennai.

"As you are undoubtedly aware of by now, a new enemy has appeared in the digital world." Gennai started, and I interrupted him.

"You mean the guy that attacked Tai and almost killed him." I asked, looking at Gennai. He'd been the one to give us the information that had almost led to my best friend getting killed after all.

"Astamon is not the enemy I am referring to." Gennai replied calmly.

"You knew who was attacking the villages?" Izzy asked, sounding surprised at that fact. I was just as surprised. If he had known that why hadn't he told us, then maybe we all would have gone and Tai wouldn't be in his apartment too injured to come to the digital world.

"No, otherwise I would have informed you. The information has only come to me recently." Gennai replied, "Just like the information concerning who he and Doumon are working for."

"So they are working together." I stated more than asked and Gennai nodded.

"Yes, they both work for the same digimon, and together." Gennai replied. "This digimon is the reason that I have called you all together and will do my best to explain things as clearly as I can."

"Well that's a nice change." I mutter, a little angry at all the times some cryptic message of Gennai had almost cost us a battle and he could have just explained it better. I felt someone nudge me and looked to see Mimi give me a glare. That caused me to stop my muttering. Mimi had managed to get Izzy off his computer once, and I didn't want to see how she'd managed that.

"Ok Gennai, why don't you tell us who the enemy is." Izzy said hopefully. Gennai had never, once, given us a straight answer about that.

"The one enemy who can shatter my organization and imprison the four Harmonious Ones." Gennai replied, and something about those two facts struck a chord in my mind, Gennai though kept talking, unaware of my internal thoughts. "You have fought him before," He said this looking at me and the other original digidestined. "Piedmon."

There was complete silence for several seconds, and then everyone started talking at once. I couldn't make out what anyone else was saying since I was trying to say my own piece.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN PIEDMON? WE DESTROYED HIM COMPLETELY!" I shout, though my words are pretty effectively lost in the uproar that occurred from Gennai's statement. Gennai doesn't look very surprised at our reaction, which everyone was continuing.

Personally I take a deep breath after my initial outburst. I wasn't acting very normal at all this trip and I needed to calm myself. Was this why Tai always acted crazy and hotheaded? Being the leader was nowhere near as easy as Tai made it look. Despite the fact that I hadn't had to make a single decision yet, I was still extra concerned about everyone and it was putting me on edge.

Gennai held up a hand to silence the group, and amazingly enough everyone quieted down, well except Davis.

"Who exactly is Piedmon, and why are we yelling about him?" He asked, and I realized the four newest digidestined had never really heard of Piedmon.

"He was the leader of the Dark Masters, four evil Mega-Level digimon that managed to imprison the four Harmonious Ones, and take over the entire digital world." Izzy answered for Gennai.

"That's not all they did." Gennai added behind his desk. "There was a long drawn out war before you digidestined even entered the picture."

Now that surprised me. Digimon had wars? I mean I knew that Gennai and his organization had been working to stop the Dark Master, eventually by making the tags and Crests and pairing them with digimon and us digidestined, but I didn't know it had been a full out war.

"A war?" I ask Gennai, leaning against one of the walls. I had jumped to my feet earlier with Gennai's revelation about Piedmon returning.

"Yes Matt, a war. How do you think the Dark Masters managed to imprison the Harmonious Ones?" Gennai replied.

"I'd actually had always wondered that, how exactly did the Dark Masters manage to defeat such powerful digimon as the Harmonious Ones?" Izzy asked, curious as always about, well everything.

"Not now Izzy." Gennai replied silencing Izzy much to my surprise. Usually, and especially after the defeat of MaloMyotismon, Gennai had been pretty good about answering Izzy's questions, especially since Izzy was his primary source of communication with us digidestined.

I took a metaphorical step back and looked at Gennai. This entire time he had been acting abnormal I hadn't really done that, and I noticed quite a few things. Usually he looked well rested and on top of things, but right now he looked the exact opposite of that. I don't know how I didn't notice it earlier but there were large sacks under his eyes, and his skin was much paler than usual. What had he been going through before we arrived?

Izzy looked like he really wanted to press Gennai for more answers, but I put a hand on his shoulder stopping him.

"Gennai, what's been happening?" I ask instead, and Gennai gave me a look that I think says thank you, I've never been able to read people very well though, so I didn't really know.

"Piedmon's picked up where he left off before you digidestined defeated him." Gennai replied, gesturing back towards the map. "He's started small, but there are still over a dozen villages destroyed, along with all of their inhabitants, in the last week alone. I've been trying to stop him, but something's different. It's as if he's even more powerful than before. Astamon and Doumon are just one example of his expanded power. Somehow he has given two Ultimate-Level digimon the power of Mega Levels."

"How is that possible? How is he even back? Is it even the same Piedmon?" Izzy asked, rejoining the conversation with a lot of questions.

"To answer your question, in reverse, yes it is the same Piedmon." Gennai replied, "He has appeared in several of my bases, before destroying them."

"What happened to the people there?" Mimi asked, concerned as always for the people or digimon that were in harm's way.

"The bases were empty. My organization still isn't back to full strength." Gennai replied, earning a sigh of relief from Mimi. "As for how he has survived, I don't know how that happened. MagnaAngemon's Gate of Destiny should have sealed him away permanently."

"Yes it should have, though we really don't have that much information on the Gate, so we don't know exactly how it does that." Izzy countered.

"What doesn't it turn them into data, and stuff?" Davis said, scratching the back of his head.

"Actually Davis we really don't know." Izzy replied, which was the honest truth. Where exactly did the digimon go when they were sent into the Gate of Destiny? "All that we know is that they're gone."

"Yea, even I don't know where they go!" Patamon exclaimed from where he was sitting on top of T.K.'s head.

"So we don't know how he came back or if he was even ever really gone." I say, summing up the last couple of minutes conversation in a single sentence.

"In a word, yes." Gennai replied, "As for how he powered Astamon and Doumon, I do not know. Now, on to why I called all of you here."

"Wait, Piedmon wasn't the reason you called us here?" Ken spoke up from where he was sitting in between Davis and Yolei.

"He was one of the reasons I called you here." Gennai replied, and I spoke at this time.

Despite Gennai's obvious haggardness, I still really resented the fact that he had obviously called us here to take care of a problem he couldn't handle. For once I'd just like something in the digital world to not be on the edge of catastrophe and need us to save it from disaster.

"Let me guess, you need us to take care of him, again." I said, and I'm sure there was some bitterness coloring my voice.

"Yes Matt." Gennai replied simply, and Davis cut my answer off, which was probably for the best. I'd really been put into a bad mood today.

"Ok, no problem. We'll go out, find him, then introduce him to Imperialdramon and that'll be the end of it." Davis said, confidently as always.

"Davis it won't be that easy. The last time we fought him he managed to take out both WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon without breaking a sweat. He's one of the most powerful digimon we ever fought. It took all of our digimon at their strongest level to defeat him." Izzy told Davis, just to put it in perspective.

"Yea well, Imperialdramon took out MaloMyotismon without a problem, so he can handle this guy to!" Davis declared, competitive as always.

"Davis, we did have a little help from all of the digidestined across the world with that one." Ken spoke up from next to Davis.

"But…uh…i…they…" Davis sputtered into incoherence, and then turned to Gennai. "I'm right aren't i?"

"Actually Davis, Izzy is right. You're going to need all of your digimon brought up to full power. MaloMyotismon was a powerful foe, but nowhere near the same league as Piedmon." Gennai replied, causing Davis to be instantly downcast.

"But Gennai, we can't exactly do that anymore. We gave up the powers of our Crests four years ago." Kari said to Gennai, saying what was on all of us original digidestined's minds.

"That's what these are for." Gennai replied to Kari, turning the ornate box in front of him around and opening it. Inside were nine nearly identical necklaces.

They were all a sort of elongated octagon, with glass covers over an empty spot in the middle of each one. What seemed like golden circuits ran along below the glass. Two of the ten had small tablets inserted, with colors and symbols visible behind the glass.

One was the vaguely familiar Crest of Kindness, pink in color with a circle in the middle of it and lines running down from the circle. I was surprised since I thought it was being used in Ken's old base to make sure it didn't explode. The other Crest was completely unfamiliar to me; it was golden with an unfamiliar symbol on it. At the top of the symbol was a diamond, then directly below it was an M like figure with another diamond at the bottom of each leg of the M.

Every one of us original digidestined, all six of us, let out a gasp at the sight inside of the box. Sure they didn't have our Crests in them, but even seeing the tags that used to hold the Crest brought back quite a few memories. We had each gone through a different experience to find our Crest, and then another one to fully realize the potential inside ourselves and get them to glow.

"The tags…" Joe breathed as we all thought about our different experiences with the tags and Crests.

"Does this mean what I think it means Gennai?" Izzy asked the worn out being behind the desk. The tension that had been with our group from the moment we arrived seemed to suddenly disappear. It was as if some force had been causing the tension and the very appearance of the tags had dispelled it.

"If what you think is that you all get your tags back, and very soon your Crests, then yes Izzy, it does." Gennai said, giving a worn smile to the boy genius.

"But I thought our Crests were with the Harmonious Ones now." I stated. Sure Tai had somehow gotten his Crest back earlier this year during the whole emotional separation incident, but none of the rest of us had, so we assumed that it wasn't going to happen.

"They are, but it isn't enough anymore. Piedmon defeated the Harmonious Ones once before, which means that he can do it again. So they want you to have the powers of your Crests back to defeat Piedmon before he can attack them." Gennai informed us in some of the clearest informing he had ever done. "They wanted to return them to you for a long time, but did not know how."

"They didn't know how?" T.K. asked, confused. Davis, Ken, Yolei, and Cody were all sitting back away from the conversation, I'm guessing since the Crests were before their time, but Kari and T.K. were up with the rest of us originals. And the two of them had actually met one of the Harmonious Ones, and from T.K. had told me, it was an intimidating experience.

"Yes T.K. the Harmonious Ones are powerful digimon, and rule over the digital world, but they are not all knowing. They didn't know any way of assisting your digimon with their digivolution other than Digicores, which weakened the defenses of the digital world too much." Gennai explained, and then continued. "But earlier this year five of you called upon the powers of your Crests while the Harmonious Ones still had them. That eventually showed them a way to return the Crests to you."

"So we're getting our Crests back?" Mimi asked excitedly, and I felt the same. We, as in the older digidestined, had been sidelined ever since we had given up the powers of our Crests. The occasional Digicore had allowed our digimon to regain their strength, but that wasn't often. We had been forced to leave most of the battles to T.K. and Davis's team, and it was frustrating.

At the very beginning I hadn't trusted the younger team at all, and I'd been frustrated at my inability to do anything helpful. I'm big enough that I'll admit that, at least to myself. I'd wanted to go in and do things the way we had in the past, but we just hadn't been able to. Tai had understood that right away, and I guess that's the real reason he's our leader. He'd helped me snap out of it, and trust the younger guys, and things had worked out fine. Now though it seemed like we'd get the old team back together and be able to do things 'our way'.

"Yes Mimi, you will all get your Crests back." Gennai replied. "Unfortunately, you will have to travel to each individual Harmonious One to retrieve your Crests. Azulongmon, the Azure Dragon of the East holds the Crests of Hope and Light. Ebonwumon the Black Tortoise of the North holds the Crests of Knowledge and Reliability. Baihumon the White Tiger of the West holds the Crests of Love and Sincerity. Finally, Zhuqiaomon the Vermillion Bird of the South held the Crests of Courage and Friendship, but currently only holds the Crest of Friendship."

"So we have to travel to each of these digimon, and get our Crests from them?" I ask, just making sure I understood everything. Honestly if that was true it was the most normal thing Gennai had said all conversation. Giving us vague directions and a dangerous journey was exactly what he normally did.

"In a word, yes Matt." Gennai replied, and I nodded. There was no use getting upset about it, I thought now. It was utterly amazing that I was thinking this much calmer compared to earlier. Just a few minutes before I would have made some snide comment. I should talk to Izzy after we left to see if he felt anything at this time.

"Well, at least we don't have to find these again." I say with a smile, striding forward to pick up two tags. I figured it made sense for me to grab Sora's tag since she wasn't here.

"Indeed. Izzy, I also have a program for your computer that will assist you in locating the Harmonious Ones. Their exact locations are a secret, even to me." Gennai said to Izzy as all of the older Digidestined claimed a tag. After just a few seconds we were all standing there, the empty tags hanging around our necks, ready to go.

Of course, there were still two little details that I was still curious about.

"What are these?" I ask gesturing towards the two remaining tags with the Crests inside them.

"Ah, a gift for two of our younger friends." Gennai said, a little of the twinkle returning to his eye. "Ken, we retrieved your Crest from you former base, and fashioned a tag for it. If you are able to get your Crest to glow you will be able to help Wormmon grow stronger than he has ever been able to before on his own."

Ken looked down at the sleeping Leafmon as Gennai told him this. Gennai walked over to him and handed him the Crest, which Ken placed around his neck. I think that everyone was holding their breaths for something to happen, but nothing ended up happening and the breath was released.

Gennai next walked towards Davis next.

"Davis you controlled a very special digiegg during your final confrontation with Kimeramon," As Gennai said this I notice Ken look away from him and Davis, and hold the sleeping Leafmon closer to his chest. "Up until a few months ago we had assumed that it was a once in a lifetime thing, but recently we learned differently. We used that digiegg to release this Crest, whose trait you seem to have personified well with your accomplishments during your adventures." Gennai placed the Crest in Davis's hand at this point. "I can't tell you exactly what this Crest will help you and Veemon do, but in a situation that has become truly dire it will surely help you overcome that situation."

Davis nodded, fairly surprised, but quickly placed the Crest around his neck, with once again nothing happening. Gennai turned to Yolei and Cody and gave them a sad smile.

"Sadly there is nothing for me to gift to the two of you, except for advice. Remain strong and help your friends as best you can. Working together there is nothing all of you," Gennai had now turned to all of us, not just Yolei and Cody, "cannot do."

After that it was time for us to leave. Gennai spent a few minutes updating Izzy's computer, and giving some advice on interacting with the Harmonious Ones, and then we were at the steps to his home. We all said goodbye to Gennai, the angry words from earlier that morning forgotten as we prepared once more to save the digital world.

We all headed up the stairs, and I glanced back down them as we reached the top. I could just make out the shape of the young Gennai standing there, watching us go. For some reason I had a weird feeling inside, almost as if I wouldn't see that again…

_Nah, your just thinking like it's a movie Matt…_ I think to myself as I turn back to the rest of the group. They're all waiting for me as I was the last one up the steps.

"Well let's get going. I'm sure Tai's probably given Sora a few heart attacks with the stunts he's pulled by now." I say with a laugh, joined by the others as we head for the nearest TV.

_So judging by everyone's positive reviews for the last chapter, youguys really wanted some more Taiora…well this is what you got. Hopefully it was slightly entertaining, and very informational. What do you guys think about it? Until next time…_

_Also, just a note for any readers of Demon Wars…Davis's Crest is not the same one from that fic, it just has the same symbol if you noticed. Don't expect it to be the same. Ok thanks!_

_Preview:_

"_**Joe, could you come over here please." Tai said quietly as Joe finished extracting himself from the pile. Tai was parked next to his bed, and Sora was sitting on the bed. Between the two of them was a red and blue digimon that was familiar to most of us. "Elecmon?" T.K. and Patamon both asked looking at the unconscious digimon sitting on Tai's bed.**_

"_**Tai, you have to go to class." I told him, knowing he was thinking the something he always thought, school was pointless and he should be playing soccer right now. "Yea, but political science? When am I ever going to need anything I learn in this class when I'm playing for a professional team?" Tai replied, and I sighed. Tai was determined to do one thing with his life and wouldn't even consider a different profession at all.**_

_Review Replies:_

_R.I.P. Jake AmaraMichelle: Did this chapter answer your question? I hope so! And Thanks!_

_Drake-El: Well with the way I've had this story going…it may. You'll have to stay tuned to find out though…it probably won't be for a little while._

_Zeobide274: Exactly. Plus when I started writing the first part of this story, he was under used on FF. Most people brought back Myotismon, for the 300__th__ time, but never Piedmon. I would say that Omnimon is more powerful than Piedmon, since he's technically a post mega digimon…and one of the most powerful digimon of all time. You'll see how Piedmon handles Omnimon though…and Agumon never went back to a digiegg. He just dedigivolved into Koromon, who spent some time with Tai in the hospital, then joined all the other chosen digimon in patrolling the digital world._

_TaioraWarrior: lol yea…I can't even remember what we were talking about lol. And yea, I had a little trouble with this chapter, but once I got it going, I really liked how it turned out…and it's always good writing about Tai and Sora…And yea it is…though Piedmon never really seems to care if he is killing off his own race in doing that. Unfortunately primary village will of plenty to fill it by the time it gets restored…if it gets restored. And yea, that's how I would expect them to be…expect that to be a big…factor I think you'd call it, in later chapters. And I'll get to reviewing your story soon…my grandparents didn't have internet, and I just got home/can barely concentrate enough to finish typing this up due to lack of sleep…_

_Supershooter: lol glad I could make you happy with that lol. And I'm trying to do a good balance between the two, but this is not solely a Taiora fic. It's my attempt at a mixture adventure/relationship/friendship fic, and while it's Taiora focused, everyone else is included, and has their own moments to shine. And how did you like Davis's attempted revenge? Lol and thanks!_

_Lachelle92: well…Piedmon can't really emulate himself…so it wasn't emulating, but still bad lol and uh…just for that you're going to get another cliff hanger, very soon =p_

_OmegaMan133: lol yea…they always do, fortunetly this story is set up differently from SIB, so the cliffhangers are still a way aways._

_LyraXEthan: Thanks a bunch!_


	10. Juggling Act

_Ok, so it's almost not Sunday, but my computer still says it is, so I don't fail. I know this is late, and once again I must blame traveling, this time back to school =(._

_Oh well, enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: My weary self doesn't own digimon._

**Chapter 10 Juggling Act**

_Kari_

I laughed along with the others at Matt's statement. I wouldn't call it a joke, since most likely my brother had done just that. Oh well, Sora had dealt with him longer than any of us, other than me of course, so she knew what to expect.

I was walking in between Davis and T.K. I'd honestly expected the two of them to pick up where they'd left off before Gennai interrupted us, but Davis was too occupied with his Crest. He couldn't stop looking at it, and Veemon was just as fascinated by the Crest from the looks of things.

I could understand that pretty easily. The four newest digidestined had all been told stories of the Crests, and how they had allowed us to win most of the battles we went through during our first adventure, though I wasn't present for all of those battles either. I was pretty sure that the Crests had taken on mythic proportions for the newer kids. They had never expected to see or have to worry about Crests, after all armor and DNA digivolving had been more than enough to deal with our enemies.

Thinking back the only reason I hadn't done pretty much the same thing that Davis was doing right now was the fact that I didn't get the opportunity. I was given my Crest and had to use it at pretty much the exact same moment, then we had to battle the Dark Masters. By the time we had a bit of breathing space my Crest's physical form had been completely destroyed.

So I guess it was understandable what Davis was doing, especially since it kept him from trying to pummel T.K.

"So Izzy, how exactly do I get this thing to work?" Davis asked, still looking down at his Crest.

"You have to get it to glow, by showing a large amount of the trait that your Crest is named after. For example, Tai's Crest is the Crest of Courage. He had to face his fears and rescue Sora from one of our enemies, Datamon, to get his Crest to glow the first time." Izzy replied to Davis question.

"So it's like the digi..." **WHAM!** Davis's sentence was cut off as he walked straight into one of the trees in the woods we were walking through.

Everyone, human and digimon, paused for a second before bursting into laughter. Even I couldn't help but laugh at Davis. He'd been so occupied with his Crest he hadn't been paying attention to where he was walking. I guess it was a little bit of an improvement since before he would walk into things when he was paying attention, but still.

"Davis are you alright?" I asked, being the first person to get control of my laughter. Yolei was the worst, needing to lean against a tree for support with how hard she was laughing.

"Yea…next time though they should put a sign on this tree…" Davis said, rubbing his face where he'd hit the tree.

I had to laugh a little at that as Veemon pulled Davis to his feet. Matt walked over from where he had been leading the group and slapped Davis on the back.

"Maybe we should pay a bit more attention to where we're walking and talk about the Crests when we get back to the real world." He said to Davis, who nodded.

With that there wasn't much more that happened on our trip. We made it to the digiport TV and everyone held up their digivices.

"Digiport Open!" Yolei shouted for the group and we were all pulled out of the digital world.

~Kamiya Apartment~

I was somewhere in the middle of the giant pile that resulted from all of us being sent through the digiport, and there was a larger amount of shouting than normal.

"Get off of me Davis!"

"I'm not on you; I'm at the bottom of the pile!"

"Why do we always end up in a pile like this?"

"You think you have it bad? Trying being a bouncing head stuck in this pile!"

"EVERYONE QUIET DOWN!" A voice, I'm pretty sure my brother's, shouted, silencing everyone instantly.

The pile slowly disappeared; I managed to get up after less than ten seconds once everyone had quieted down. That's when I noticed exactly what was going on in the rest of the room.

"Joe, could you come over here please." Tai said quietly as Joe finished extracting himself from the pile. Tai was parked next to his bed, and Sora was sitting on the bed. Between the two of them was a red and blue digimon that was familiar to most of us.

"Elecmon?" T.K. and Patamon both asked looking at the unconscious digimon sitting on Tai's bed.

"Where did he come from?" Izzy asked, surprised at the fact that a digimon was sitting in my brother's room. I was just worried about Elecmon. He wasn't moving at all and his breathing looked rather shallow.

Joe scooted through the crowd of digidestined over to the bed, and immediately started checking out the injured digimon.

"How did Elecmon get here?" Izzy asked once more, and this time Tai turned to him as Joe took his spot next to Elecmon.

"Me and Sora were outside Primary Village…" He started, but I cut him off.

"What were you doing in the digital world?" I ask, concerned that my brother had gone off and done something stupid, again.

"We were just going for a little picnic, nothing to worry about." Tai replied, and I just looked at him. "Honest. Anyways it was really good that we did that for a number of reasons."

"Oh really? How is you going to the place where you almost died a good thing?" I replied to my brother, and I was startled at my own response. Tai did stupid things all the time, and usually I didn't get this worked up over them. Then of course he's never almost died before.

"Well for one, all my injuries are healed, in the digital world at least." Tai said, and my expression instantly softened. His injuries had been fixed?

"How?" I asked simply, and Tai shook his head.

"I have no idea, but while we were there we came upon Primary Village…" Tai proceeded to tell us everything they had seen there and his own thoughts as to what happened.

"…So whoever is launching these attacks is emulating the Dark Masters, attacking Primary Village." He finished a few minutes later.

"Tai," Matt began, "It isn't just someone emulating the Dark Masters. It's Piedmon." Tai just looked at him for a second. He, Matt, Izzy, Davis, and Ken were all sitting slightly away from the rest of us while Joe, Mimi Yolei, and Sora were all looking after Elecmon. T.K., Cody, and I were just looking between the two groups.

Tai sat there in his chair for a second, much calmer than I would have expected. I'd had to watch my brother almost die fighting Piedmon on his own once, and I knew he wouldn't like the news that he was back in the least.

"What?" Tai said finally, almost stupidly.

"The digimon who is behind everything, the attack on you and all the villages is Piedmon." Matt replied to Tai's question, being patient with my older brother.

"How is that even possible?" Tai asked, sounding completely surprised. I can't say I blamed him, all of us had taken this news even worse than he was.

"We don't know, and neither does Gennai." Izzy chimed in, helping Matt out. "All he would say is that it was definitely Piedmon, and the same Piedmon we fought before."

Tai nodded once, and then just sat back, deep in thought. I was concerned for him, as I thought earlier; he couldn't really be taking this news well.

"It's not all bad Tai!" Davis exclaimed from where he was sitting between Izzy and Ken. "All of the original digidestined got their tags back!"

Tai looked up at this, and I smiled. Even now Davis could snap Tai out of a funk as he started to go into one. Unfortunately he'd had too much practice at that earlier this year.

"Really?" Tai asked, and in response both Izzy and Matt pulled up the tags hanging around their necks. T.K. and I were sitting a little too far away for it to really be practical to pull out our tags as well.

Tai's eyes widened at the sight of the tags, and then narrowed.

"There aren't any Crests in them." He stated rather obviously.

"Of course Tai, that would be too simple now wouldn't it." Matt said, his tone returning to the fairly bitter one he had used a few times at Gennai's house, but he immediately apologized for that. "Sorry. Gennai gave us these, but apparently we have to seek out the Harmonious Ones to get the actual Crests back."

Tai nodded to Matt and patted his shoulder.

"You don't need to apologize Matt. Getting that close to getting your Crest back and then finding out you still having a distance to go can't be easy." Tai told Matt, and I smiled. My brother always does his best to help his friends feel better, it's one of the things I love most about him.

"Well, it's not all bad new Tai." Izzy said, interrupting the silence that had descended over that group. "We also got two more Crests."

Tai quickly turned towards Izzy as he said this. "What? Who?"

"Davis and Ken." Izzy said simply before pointing towards the two boys in question. Both of them held up their Crests as Tai turned towards them. I could almost feel the excitement running off of my brother as he took that in.

"ALRIGHT!" He shouted instead pumping his good arm into the air, and earning him a series of shushes from Sora, Mimi, and Yolei. He just grinned sheepishly like he always does and turned back to the others.

I on the other hand was redirected from my brother and the conversation they were having to the group around Elecmon. I stood up, leaving T.K. and Cody who were still listening to the conversation between Tai and the others. As I walked over I could hear Joe talking quietly.

"He's pretty badly injured from what I can tell…" He was saying, whether it was to anyone or just to himself I couldn't tell.

"Wow Joe, medical school finally taught you how to tell the obvious." Gomamon said from where he was standing next to the bed. That earned him a glare from Joe, but that was about it.

"In all honesty Gomamon, I don't know enough about digimon to really tell you what's wrong with him." Joe admitted honestly. "The best thing we can do for him right now is make him comfortable and wait."

That seemed to be all that we could do for now, sit and wait. Usually that didn't bother me, sitting and waiting that is. I considered myself a fairly patient person, I had to be at times with Tai, but right now I wasn't feeling patient in the least, but we couldn't do anything at this point.

We just didn't know what to do, or how to do it. We had to stop Piedmon, but to do that we needed our Crests. We had to find our Crests, but we didn't even know where to start looking yet. We had to do something, but we just couldn't at this point.

"CRAP!" I looked up just as Ken and Davis both tore out of the room, leaving my brother and Matt behind, doubled over with laughter.

"What was that about?" I asked T.K. as I walked back over by him.

"Davis and Ken just remembered that their supposed to be at the soccer field for the championship game in about fifteen minutes." T.K. said through his laughter. I just shook my head. I could see Davis forgetting that, but Ken forgetting was a surprise.

"How did Ken forget?" I asked, but T.K. just shrugged. Of course he wouldn't know.

We of course were going to the soccer game. We had to support Davis and Ken, and it meant a lot to Tai that his team had still managed to get to the championship round even without him being there. Eventually Joe, Mimi, and Cody all volunteered to stay behind and watch the digimon and Elecmon while the rest of us went out to support Davis and Ken since they really didn't like soccer games that much.

I offered to let any of the others go and stay behind, after all I had been to more than a few soccer games, but they just shrugged it off.

"It's fine Kari. I'm not really that interested in soccer anyways. Please tell Ken and Davis good luck for me." Cody replied to my offer to let him go.

"I'm the only one with any medical experience; I need to stay here for Elecmon." Was Joe's answer, but I expected that. Joe was too reliable and responsible to leave Elecmon on his own.

"I'm not going to leave Elecmon here!" Mimi replied to me, concerned as always for one of our friends.

So the rest of us left to go to the soccer game, though Izzy split off from us as we left. T.K., Yolei, and I were riding with Sora, so we didn't realize this until we actually got to the soccer stadium since Izzy had been riding in Matt's van with Tai and Matt.

The others didn't really offer an explanation as to what that was about so I assumed he just needed to grab something for his computer. All of us headed into the stadium after that brief conversation, ready for the soccer game.

_Sora_

The buzzing of my alarm clock woke me up fairly fast. I looked at the time on the clock and sighed. Today was the first day of the new semester, and thanks to Tai being injured, I had to wake up earlier to get him to school on time.

_If I ever get my hands on that Astamon I'm gonna rip him apart…_ I think to myself in my groggy state. Of course he wasn't the only one who needed to be defeated. What Piedmon had done to Primary Village, again, was utterly horrible. Destroying it, and all of the unborn digimon inside it, was horrible enough but then infecting it with some sort of darkness to prevent it from working anymore was horrible.

Then there was Elecmon. The poor little guy had just been doing his job as caretaker of Primary Village and now there was no one to do that.

The thought I didn't really want to remember came back to me as I sat on my bed waking up…

~_Flashback_~

We had all been headed back to the Kamiya's for a large celebration. Odaiba High School had won the All Japan High School Tournament, narrowly, but they had still won. Ken had scored the winning goal in overtime sending the entire stadium into an uproar. Everyone, from our high school at least, had rushed the field with the team, angering all of the officials on the sidelines.

The team had even all picked Tai up, gave him the trophy, and then paraded him around the field. I would have stopped them, but you could see how much the team still wanting their captain with them, even though he hadn't played a single game in the tournament, had meant to Tai. After a brief team only celebration in the locker room, with the rest of us digidestined waiting outside, we had all headed for the Kamiya's. The team was having their own celebration the next day.

We had rushed into the building, then waited for the elevator, and finally rushed once more into the Kamiya's apartment. Then we stopped. A tear soaked Mimi had greeted us at the door to Tai's room. She couldn't say anything coherent to us at all.

"Mimi, what's the matter?" Yolei asked as she hugged the crying Mimi. Nothing coherent came out of her mouth, so I went into Tai's room. Nothing really seemed too out of place. The digimon weren't anywhere to be seen, all of them were out in the kitchen, Cody was looking out the window and Joe was sitting on the bed next to Elec…where Elecmon had been.

"Joe?" I asked as I walked into the room. Kari pushed Tai in behind me and the three of us went over to where Joe was sitting.

"He just started disappearing." Joe said, staring straight ahead. "His feet started to turn into little bits of data, and it just moved up his body. I should have done something, anything."

"Joe…" I said taking a step towards Joe, but he just stood up as I did.

"Don't try and tell me otherwise. I know it's my fault, I'm never going to save anyone or make it as a doctor." Joe said, and I was surprised. He hadn't acted like this since our first time in the digital world. He'd gotten pretty good at not beating himself up, at least over thing that were out of his control.

"Snap out of it Joe!" Tai said as Kari pushed him forward.

"I don't need to snap out of anything Tai! I should have helped him! I'm nothing but a failure." Joe ended his little self-beating speech at almost a whisper.

"That's not true Joe, and you know it." Tai replied to Joe. I just stayed out of the way. I had my own opinion on this whole matter, but Tai was the leader, keeping the team together was his responsibility. "Davis told me what happened when he and Matt brought me back from the digital world after my battle. Everyone but you was completely frozen. You on the other hand moved and used the knowledge you have to help me. I'm probably still alive today because of you."

"I..Uh…" Joe sputtered to find a counter to that, but Cody beat him to the punch.

"Joe, didn't you tell Gomamon you don't know enough about digimon to know what was wrong with Elecmon?" He asked quietly, and Joe nodded.

Tai shot Cody an appreciative glance then looked back at Joe. "See Joe, no problems."

"I guess. I still wish I could have done something…" Joe replied, looking back down at the bed where Elecmon had lain.

"We all do Joe, but you can't go beating yourself up over it. We need you to be your old reliable self." Tai said his grin back on his face at the reference to Joe's Crest.

Joe grimaced back, still looking like he wasn't able to smile so soon after Elecmon's demise.

~_UnFlashback_~

Everyone's mood had been sobered for the rest of the night after they found out about Elecmon. All of the joy of winning the tournament was gone, at least for the night and…

"SORA! You need to get going if you're getting to the Kamiya's early!" My mother shouted from the kitchen of our apartment. She usually got up this early to open up the flower shop.

"OK Mom!" I shout back before starting to get ready.

~Kamiya Apartment~

I walked up to the door of the Kamiya's apartment just as it flew open to reveal Kari heading out the door.

"Hi Sora!" She said, much more cheerfully than she normally was in the morning.

_I wonder why that is…_

"GET BACK HERE KARI!" Tai's voice shouted, loud enough for the entire floor to be woken up. I peeked into the apartment for a look inside to see Davis, who somehow had managed to beat me here from a whole other apartment building, pushing a soaked Tai out of the door.

I guess he wasn't really soaked as I got a better look at him, it was really just his face, and his hair. I turned away as it was pretty obvious how Kari had woken her older brother up. I turned to try and stop the laughter, and to hide the blush on my face, Tai did really look good when his hair was soaked like that…

"Hi Sora!" Davis said; awake in the morning for once.

"Hi Davis, Hi Tai." I said finally turning around. Tai didn't look especially happy, but that was most likely from being awake, not seeing me. He also didn't have all of his uniform on, with the jacket hanging from the back of his chair and his tie in his hand. "You want some help with that?" I asked Tai who nodded.

I was used to tying Tai's tie, despite how ridiculous that sounded, since he almost never did it in the mornings on his own. While this was going on Matt appeared in the still open door, looking fairly amused at how Tai looked.

"Forget to use the towel after your shower Tai?" He asked with a grin on his face. I gave him a look that said shut up, but he just grinned more. It was actually refreshing when Matt joked with Tai and I. At school he had to keep up his "cool guy" persona for the benefit of all the adoring Teenage Wolves fans at the school, and it had carried over into his friendships a time or two.

He'd smile that fake smile he wore that made all of his adorning fans go crazy but just made Tai and I angry. We knew how the real Matt smiled and that fake smile was nowhere near to that.

"Actually I forgot to set my alarm clock to dry." Tai deadpanned, just before a huge grin split his face and Matt let out a laugh. The fact that Tai was making a joke told me he wasn't actually angry, though I'm sure he'd have some retribution against his sister later. It would probably involve that picture of her and T.K. that he had yet to show her.

"You might want to watch out for that man." Matt replied, still laughing. "Anyways, you two ready to go?"

"Just about…" I replied, putting the finishing touch into Tai's tie. "Anyways, there are three of us, since Davis is here."

"Was, he already ran down to catch up with Kari, T.K., Yolei, and Ken." Matt replied.

"How did I not see him leave?" I asked no one in particular as I stood up.

"Well, you were a little busy laughing, and I think blushing to notice." Tai said once again, and I quickly glared down at him. He was grinning that stupid grin of his, and I felt the blush returning. "See, just what I was talking about."

I just hit him playfully on his good arm. "Shut up Tai."

"Or what?" Tai asked back, as I moved behind his wheelchair to give him a push.

"Or I might push you down the stairs." I replied, a smile still on my face.

"You wouldn't…" Tai replied, trying to turn around.

"I don't know Tai, she looks pretty pissed…" Matt said managing to keep a straight face. I was lucky since Tai couldn't turn around as my face was split with a huge grin.

"Is she really? Uh…I'm sorry Sora?" Tai said, and I let out a laugh.

"Sometimes Tai you're too gullible." I said as we reached the elevator.

~Odaiba High School~

Luckily for Tai we worked out his schedule so that he would have someone available to take him to each of his classes. That only worked out because of Ken and Izzy. The two of them were taking classes well past their grade, so they had one or two with Tai usually so they could cover when Matt and I couldn't.

I had Tai for most of the morning, so I wheeled him into our first class. Tai made an unhappy sound as we entered the classroom.

"Tai, you have to go to class." I told him, knowing he was thinking the something he always thought, school was pointless and he should be playing soccer right now.

"Yea, but political science? When am I ever going to need anything I learn in this class when I'm playing for a professional team?" Tai replied, and I sighed. Tai was determined to do one thing with his life and wouldn't even consider a different profession at all.

"Well Tai you're still going to college, and you need a major. Plus it could be useful for you sometime." I replied to him as I wheeled him towards a seat.

"Like when?" He asked, and I had finally had enough. We had already had several conversations about exactly what we, as in our relationship, would do after high school, and they had usually ended in arguments of some sort, and right now I was feeling all of that.

"Like learning how to not piss your girlfriend off!" I said to him, rather loudly before picking my stuff up and moving to a seat on the far side of the classroom.

I spent the rest of the class angry, and didn't say a single word to Tai as we went through the rest of the morning. At lunch I started to feel a little bad. He was probably pretty confused since my snap had been almost random, unless you were following my line of thought, which Tai literally couldn't do.

Despite how we'd acted the last couple of weeks Tai and I weren't a perfect couple. Even as friends we argued a large amount of the time, and the only real difference now is that the arguments were actually more serious rather than over say, a hairclip. A fight wasn't uncommon, and usually the both of us would figure out we were overreacting a bit.

So by the time we got to lunch I was ready to talk to Tai. I pulled him away from the table we usually shared with the other digidestined, and he seemed to realize what I was doing because he didn't say anything as I pushed him over to an empty table.

I sat down across from him, and he gave me a tentative smile, which in all honesty I couldn't help but return. That caused his smile to turn into his usual goofy grin.

"Ok, I probably over reacted a little earlier today." I started. I knew he felt he was wronged, and that I'd have to start the conversation, but he actually surprised me.

"No, not really. I've been thinking about it most morning, and you were really just concerned for me, so it's fine Sor." Tai said, surprising me as I'd already said. "In fact you're probably right. I need to have some idea of something to do besides soccer."

"Still. I didn't have to give you the silent treatment all morning." I replied. I never liked it when Tai tried to take all of the blame. It didn't happen often, but when it did I usually felt the need to take some blame.

"Now that I can't argue with." Tai replied with a smile, and I slapped his good shoulder, playfully.

"Stupid Tai. You're not supposed to tell me that." I said, a smile still on my face.

"Uh huh." Tai nodded still smiling. "Now why don't you wheel me back over to the table so we can get some food before Davis takes all of it."

I stood and did do just that in fact, because Tai was perfectly correct. If we didn't hurry back Davis would eat all of the food. I looked ahead to make sure I wouldn't need to yell across the lunch room, but instead I was puzzled. Everyone was gathered around Izzy, all in a close circle. As we pushed up the circle opened up to let us in.

"What's up guys?" Tai asked casually despite the fact that something was obviously up.

"I think I have the location of the first Harmonious One!" Izzy exclaimed in a whisper.

"What!" Tai and I exclaimed at pretty much the same moment.

"I thought it was going to take a long time Izzy?" Ken asked, obviously already brimming with questions.

"So did I, but last night I had an idea." Izzy replied. "You younger digidestined encountered one of the Harmonious Ones when you were fighting BlackWarGreymon right?"

"Yea, Azulongmon." T.K. replied, obviously remembering the encounter, and the fact that Azulongmon held his Crest.

"Well I figured I could narrow the search by starting there, and so I set up the program, which is really quite ingenious…" Izzy dithered into technical talk as Tai, Davis, and pretty much everyone but Yolei and Ken's eyes glazed over.

It took Izzy a minute or two to figure it out, and then regain our attention.

"Sorry. I narrowed the search, so the program took less time to find the Harmonious One." Izzy told everyone once he had their attention.

"Alright." Tai said, and I could feel his excitement rising. "We need to go as soon as possible to get the Crests. We'll all meet in the computer lab as soon as schools out. Yolei, email Cody to meet up with us. Izzy, you email Joe, and see if he can grab the digimon from everyone's houses. Sora, you email Mimi and let her know to meet us there if she can."

Tai paused here looking at everyone and smiled. "Ok guys, this is the first step to stopping Piedmon, let's do it!"

_Bam! Ok, nothing really new, other than pulling everyone together, and getting all the information to the entire team. Hope you enjoyed! Until next week!_

_Preview:_

"_**Well Tai, here's the thing about that." Izzy said, and the way he said it told me it wasn't news I was going to like. "I don't know exactly where the Harmonious One is. Gennai's locater can only pinpoint their general location, not exactly where they are." **_

"_**So you know he's somewhere around here, but not exactly where?" Ken asked as everyone looked at Izzy.**_

"_**Exactly Ken." Izzy replied.**_

"_**Well, how hard could it be? I mean, we're talking about a giant dragon that floats in the sky!" Davis exclaimed to the group.**_

"_**Davis, do you see any giant dragons in the sky?" Matt asked, innocently.**_

_**Davis looked up expectantly, but didn't see anything but the tops of trees and the blue skies above them.**_

_Review Replies:_

_Supershooter: Glad you enjoyed, and yea, poor Davis…he'll get tk back eventually though! _

_TaioraWarrior: I'd actually been just thinking that it had been a long time since we talked…especially with the holidays taking up so much time…The Gatomon part I thought was great, and perfect for her. Nad yea, I have been noticing a lot of that in these stories. Almost like everyone either got fed up with the prevalence of Myotismon fics…or they were inspired by a certain story lol._

_LyraXEthan: Thanks! And I'm glad your reading between the lines. Usually I'm either too subtle or not subtle enough with hints, but yes that is Davis's Crest…now to figure out how he activates it…lol_

_Appealtoreason: Yea, just a little bit, but Yolei and Cody are my least favorite DD, so it was bound to happen. And i wouldn't count them out just yet. There are bound to be ways for them to help out._

_Zeobide274: Yea, fourth for TK, the others a few less since they weren't in all the different battles. For Cody and Yolei, their digimon's Ultimates are their DNA digimon, while Valkyriemon is Hawkmon's Mega, and I think Vikemon is Armadillomon's. lol I'm glad you knew, and I wouldn't say Ultimate villain, but he was certainly great, and they never did really beat him, and nobody (until TaioraWarrior's DA3) brought the Dark Masters back at all. And I'll play that close to my chest for now…though I would note that Daemon is both ranked above Piedmon, and actually more powerful outside of his Fallen Angle mode, so I wouldn't see him as the minion. And, if he gets one, Grandis. Not only does that fit with JewelBeemon and Stingmon better, I just plain like him better than Grand._

_R.I.P. Jake AmaraMichelle: Glad it did! and thanks!_

_Drake-El: That is the truth isn't it? Your quite right that it is reused, and still good, but I wouldn't expect this to be just that. At least, it won't be that simple. Of course, it never is in the end._


	11. Azure Dragon of the East

_Well, it's Sunday (not the end of Sunday either! YAY!) so that means an update. First a couple of announcements. I'm trying something new after an experience in a story I'm following, and that's a the story so far, and previous chapter recaps. The other announcement is the fact that this is the single longest chapter I've ever written, twice as long as anything else for this story, so enjoy…_

_Disclaimer: I are not owning Digimon (yet)_

_**The Story So Far: **__During a fairly routine check on some villages in the digital world Tai Kamiya was attacked and seriously injured by a previously unmet digimon. After being rescued by his fellow digidestined Tai spent several weeks in the hospital. Upon being release he and the other digidestined were summoned by Gennai to fill them in on a new danger. Tai and Sora remained behind as the rest of the digidestined travelled to Gennai's home. At Gennai's home they learned that the new danger was their old foe Piedmon, and that the original digidestined would regain their Crests. Meanwhile Tai and Sora took an unscheduled picnic to primary village only to find out that it had been devastated in much the same way as it had during the Dark Masters reign. After all the digidestined had reunited and shared their information Izzy found the location of the first pair of Crests._

**Chapter 11 Azure Dragon of the East**

_Tai_

I strummed my fingers against the side of the desk my wheelchair was parked against, showing my impatience to get a move on. It was my last class, and I wanted it to end so that was I could get out to the computer lab and meet up with everyone else. Unfortunately it seemed like time knew how impatient I was, and had decided to slow down, just to spite me.

"Tai?" I ignored the voice as I continued staring at the clock in front of me. Apparently we still had thirty minutes left in class despite the fact that we had to have been in there for at least a day, or was it already two?

"Tai?" The voice said more urgently, but I continued to ignore it as I strummed my finger along the desk, trying to figure out how exactly the clock could have been messed with.

"Mr. Kamiya! That is enough!" A sharp voice finally gathered my full attention, and I looked down from the clock to the teacher at the front of the classroom.

Ms. Sato didn't look at all pleased with me as I looked up at her, but then again most teachers never really gave me a pleased look unless I happened to get a question right when they called on me. Then it was more of a surprised look on their faces. It wasn't really that I was dumb, it's just that I never paid attention in school. I mean, what was the point? Nothing they taught us there was really going to help us anyways. I'd rather be out living life, and learning by trying new things than being stuck in a stuffy classroom all day.

As I stopped strumming my finger on the desk Ms. Sato seemed appeased, and turned back to the board to explain more about the literature class she would be teaching this year.

Matt, whose desk I'd been strumming on, just shook his head.

"I tried to warn you." He said in a quiet voice. It wasn't too quiet since we were in the back of the classroom, but we didn't want to get in trouble anyways.

I just grunted and shrugged. It was the first day of class, it's not like she could give me detention for strumming on a desk after all.

The rest of the class passed uneventfully, at least in relation to the teacher. I managed to convince one of the girls who couldn't stop starring at Matt that he was passing notes to her through me. It gave me something to do for the class, and was a start on the payback that I owed Matt for his antics with me and my wheelchair.

By the time class was over I'd convinced the girl that Matt had asked her on a date, and had to try hard not to laugh at the expression on Matt's face as she waved very energetically at him on the way out.

"I wonder what that was about?" He asked me as he pushed me towards the elevator to get us to the second floor, and the computer lab.

"Oh, that's probably because I convinced her that you were writing notes to her most of the class." I said, matter of factly.

"Oh, that makes, wait WHAT?" Matt started to say, but stopped as my words registered.

"I convinced her that you were the one writing notes to her all class." I replied as he pushed me into the elevator. He stopped after turning me around and moved outside the elevator to face me. "Oh yea, and I convinced her that you asked her on a date, so don't make any plans Friday." I said, just as the elevator closed, with Matt on the outside.

I whistled to myself as the elevator rose to the next floor, and pushed myself out with my good arm after it arrived. Despite what the doctors had said, and told both my family and Sora, it wasn't really that hard for me to move on my own. Despite the number of times I had demonstrated this to both my family and Sora, they still didn't seem to grasp this fact.

As I pushed myself out into the hallway, still packed with people trying to race out of the school, I was perfectly able to maneuver myself. That was until the crowd surrounded me and I got completely stopped. People would move out of my way, but only just in front of me, so I couldn't get a clear path through.

I wasn't that concerned, but I did want to get to the computer lab as soon as possible, which the crowd was preventing me from doing. I just sighed and accepted my fate, greeting people as they passed on either side of me.

Suddenly I felt someone give my wheelchair a push, and the crowd got out of the way as I moved forward.

"You know, they really shouldn't let cripples try to wheel around the school all by themselves." It was Kazuki, one of the other seniors on the soccer team.

"Hey Kazuki, whatcha doin' up here?" I asked with a grin at my friend. Kazuki was one of my closest friends outside of the digidestined since we had gone to school together, and played on the same soccer team together, nearly as long as me and Sora. The second floor was usually only filled with underclassmen, as the upperclassmen lockers were located on the lower, and more accessible, floor.

"Ah, my little sister just moved to this school from the private school my parents had sent her to." Kazuki replied as he pushed me farther into the hallway. "I just came up her to make sure she didn't get lost on the way down."

"Really?" I replied. I knew Kazuki had a younger sister, but not that she had started going here. "What year is she?"

"A freshmen." Kazuki answered.

"You should have said something, I could have had Kari make sure nothing happened to her." I replied knowing my little sister would have been happy to help out.

"Ah, she wouldn't have liked that…" Kazuki started to reply before drifting off. I looked behind me to see what had stopped him, and he was glaring straight ahead. I turned back around to see Davis pressed into a locker with his lips locked to the lips of a girl I didn't recognize.

"Alright Davis." I said, my face splitting into a grin as I turned from him to find what had pissed off Kazuki so much. I stopped though, and turned back to the girl. I'd never seen her before, but something was rather familiar about her…

"Davis is going to die…" Kazuki said quietly, stepping around my wheelchair. Luckily for Davis he happened to look up at that moment, as did Kazuki's sister.

"I think I should go." Davis said, before taking off down the hallway at a sprint, Kazuki following him.

"Bye Davis! Call me!" Kazuki's sister called after Davis before turning, with a smile on her face, away from the rapidly disappearing boys.

"There you are." A voice said behind me, and I turned to see Sora arrive, and take control of my wheelchair. "What do you think you're doing all by yourself?"

"It's not my fault, honest!" I said with a laugh. Sora raised an eyebrow and I proceed to tell her about the afternoon's antics, which had her laughing by the time she got me to the computer lab.

Kari, T.K., Ken, Yolei, and Izzy were all already in there, and looked questioningly at the two of us. After relaying the story to them Kari, T.K., Ken, and Yolei weren't able to control their laughter, while Izzy just shook his head, smiling but not joining in with the all-out laughter of the younger group.

Matt was the first one to arrive, and gave me a rather angry glare, but I just gave him a smile back. The guy had been avoiding dating since the whole thing with him and Sora ended nearly six months before. He needed to get a date, if for no other reason than to get all of those raving fan girls off of his back, and hey who knew, maybe this girl would be right for him.

"So Matt, I heard you finally got a date!" T.K. called from relative safety among the younger digidestined.

"Oh shut it T.K." He said to his brother, earning more laughs out of the younger group. He then turned to me. "I'm going to get you back for that Tai."

"Oh please Matt, get me back for setting you up on a date with a good looking girl? What're you gonna do? Buy me dinner?" I asked, earning another chorus of laughs from the other digidestined. I leaned in, and more quietly this time I said, "I mean really Matt, when was the last time you actually had a date?"

Matt just gave me a look, and then went and sat down at one of the computers.

Joe and Cody arrived next, all of the digimon in tow. A rather loud and obnoxious reunion occurred next, though I could hear Matt tell Tsunomon that they weren't going to band practice on Friday, and had to laugh.

"Where's Davis?" DemiVeemon asked in a sad voice as he looked around the room for his absent partner.

"That's a good question, where is he?" Matt asked, not having heard what Davis had done.

"Probably still being chased by Kazuki." Sora said with a laugh, which I and the younger digidestined joined in.

"What?" Matt asked in confusion.

"Well, it seems you weren't the only one of our popular bachelors set up today." Sora said, putting an arm around Matt's shoulder. He turned to me instantly, but I shook my head.

"Don't look at me. I didn't have anything to do with that one." I said quickly. "I especially wouldn't have set him up with Kazuki's sister."

"Wait, Kazuki has a sister?" Matt asked. He'd meet Kazuki at a few of the parties that we'd gone to, in addition to knowing he was on the soccer team with me, Davis, and Ken.

"Yea, she just started here this semester, and had an eye for Davis." I said with a laugh.

At this moment Davis appeared at the door, looking completely out of breath as he stumbled into the room.

"Finally…lost…him…" Davis said, panting between each word, as he collapsed into a chair. The entire room burst into laughter at Davis, except the digimon, who didn't really seem to understand what was going on.

We probably could have spent the next hour poking fun at Matt and Davis, but I knew we had a job to do, so I got everyone to calm down, and get set to go.

"Sora, did you get a hold of Mimi?" I asked her as Izzy finished pulling up the digiport program and everyone lined up in front of the computer.

"Yea. She has the alarm up pretty loud so any D-Terminal messages will wake her up" Sora said, and I winced as she said that. Mimi was fourteen hours behind us, so Sora had sent the message at around ten p.m. her time, probably right when Mimi was trying to go to sleep. "She said she can meet up with us, and catch up on her sleep during school the next day."

I had to smile at that, and then Izzy waved towards me, signaling that the digiport was ready to go.

"Alright everyone." I said as Sora took her spot in the line in front of the television. "Let's go!"

~Digital world~

As I was lying at the bottom of the pile of digidestined, I think I may finally have thought of a good way to avoid these oh so fun dog piles at either end of traveling to the digital world. If we all just went through one at a time, we couldn't land on each other so easily, I think.

"Hurry get up! I think Tai's at the bottom of the pile! You're killing him!" I heard a voice frantically calling from the top of the pile, and I can only assume it was Mimi's which made sense. She hadn't heard that I was healed when I returned to the digital world, so she probably thought I was still in my casts and everything when I got here.

After the last couple of people, I think it was Davis and Matt, got up I stood up on my own, causing a gasp of surprise from Mimi.

"Tai! When'd you get better?" She almost screamed, and I just shook my head.

"I'm not really better Mimi. Every time I enter the digital world though it's like my body resets to its default setting, and I get a new outfit." I reply, noticing that I was in the same clothing I'd been in the last time I was in the digital world, just like Sora. In fact everyone's outfit was different. The newer kids all had on the outfits they'd worn every time they entered the digital world, while Kari and T.K. had outfits matching the ones they usually wore when entering the digital world, despite the fact that their outfits hadn't changed their last adventure.

Everyone else was wearing something different, and as I looked at them, they all reminded me of the outfits they'd worn the first time we entered the digital world, just like mine and Sora's did.

Matt had on a green sleeveless shirt, just like our first time in the digital world only without the odd collar it used to have, and blue jeans. In fact, other than the fact that he was obviously bigger than he was then I'd say it was the exact same outfit he'd worn then. Izzy had an orange button down shirt, brown pants, and a different backpack than the one he had been wearing when we entered the digital world. Mimi was wearing a pink dress that easily could have been mistaken for something from the cowboy and Indian area in America, and she even had a hat that looked suspiciously like the one she had worn in the digital world on. Finally Joe was dressed in a collared shirt, with a sweater vest over it. He was wearing a pair of nice looking khaki pants with them. He had his usual bag of emergency supplies over his back, but that wasn't anything new.

Everyone seemed to notice this at the same time, and with the exception of Sora, Davis, Cody, Yolei, and I proceeded to ogle at their changed appearance.

"Prodigious!" Izzy exclaimed as he looked down at his changed clothing. "I wonder why now all of us are undergoing a change in what we wear in the digital world?"

No one had an answer for Izzy, and after a few minutes everyone had their wonder brought under control. That was my cue to get us moving once more.

"Ok Izzy, which way to the Harmonious One?" I asked, gaining everyone's attention.

"Well Tai, here's the thing about that." Izzy said, and the way he said it told me it wasn't news I was going to like. "I don't know exactly where the Harmonious One is. Gennai's locater can only pinpoint their general location, not exactly where they are."

"So you know he's somewhere around here, but not exactly where?" Ken asked as everyone looked at Izzy.

"Exactly Ken." Izzy replied.

"Well, how hard could it be? I mean, we're talking about a giant dragon that floats in the sky!" Davis exclaimed to the group.

"Davis, do you see any giant dragons in the sky?" Matt asked, innocently.

Davis looked up expectantly, but didn't see anything but the tops of trees and the blue skies above them.

"Uh…no, I don't." Davis replied after a second.

"Ok, so this will take a little longer to find than I expected, we'll just have to do a little bit of searching around." I said, and then thought for a moment. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a dumb person, so it I got a good idea to speed up the search easily. "Ok, here's what we're going to do. We're going to split up and look for this digimon."

Everyone nodded after a second, and I looked at them. Usually I'd say just to split into our respective teams, though that would leave Kari and T.K. confused since they belonged to both teams, but I wasn't going to do that today. I was the only one of the older digidestined who could get their digimon to digivolve past the ultimate level, while the newer digidestined could get a mega and two ultimates into a fight through DNA digivolving. We needed to split the heavy firepower down the middle in case it came to a fight.

"Ok, Matt, you're going to take Davis, Ken, Kari, Yolei, and Joe. Everyone else, you're going to come with me." I told the group. I hope it didn't come out as an order, since I was only leader because everyone wanted me to be the leader, not by some other authority.

Matt looked at me for a second, and then at the ones I'd told to go with him, and then nodded. He saw what I was doing, and agreed with it.

So we split up at that point, and I took the lead. Izzy made a copy of the area's map on his computer for Ken's D-Terminal before we left, but that was the only thing slowing us down.

We had landed approximately in the center of the area Gennai's program said the Harmonious One could be, so we headed off in two compass directions, my group south, while Matt's headed north.

The trip was pretty uneventful for the most part, everyone sharing their experiences from their first day back at school with each other. I walked up with Izzy, intent on asking him if he had any new ideas on exactly why I was healed in the digital world, or why all of us suddenly had new outfits, not just the new guys.

"Well Tai, I think this confirms my theory about part of the digital world." Izzy replied after I asked him my questions.

"Your theory?" I asked, intrigued since this didn't sound like something Izzy had just come up with.

"Back when we first reentered the digital world, I thought up several theories as to why Davis, Yolei, and Cody all had an outfit change every time they entered the digital world." Izzy started, and I forced myself to pay full attention to him for once. "One of them, and the one I felt made the most sense, was that they viewed themselves in a different way than they were dressed every time they came to the digital world."

"But what about us?" I asked, intrigued by Izzy's theory. "I mean, I came to the digital world in my school uniform multiple times and that never changed."

"Well I thought that it was because we weren't actively needed in the digital world, and I think that we've confirmed this." Izzy said rather proudly. I nodded, but T.K., who had been leading the group with his Tag held in front of him, didn't seem satisfied.

"But what about Kari and I? Our outfits never changed until today." T.K. asked, stopping for a minute. We had been walking for a good little while so we all stopped for a quick break as Izzy turned to T.K.

"Well look at your outfit T.K." Izzy said simply. "It's nearly identical to the one you would normal wear into the digital world, isn't it?"

"Well, I guess, yes." T.K. replied after a second.

"See, it's the explanation that best fits the circumstances." Izzy said confidently, pulling out his laptop while we were stopped.

"Hellfire!" That voice jarred a memory in my head instantly, and I instinctively grabbed the people closest to me, T.K. and Cody, and dived to the ground.

A few explosions hit around us, and even though a part of me was screaming to stay down I had to look up and see what had happened to the others. Izzy had fallen backwards over the log he was sitting on, but looked ok with Tentomon near him. I could see Agumon with Biyomon and Palmon a little ways away from Izzy, also ducking for cover.

"Patamon digivolve to!"

"Armadillomon digivolve to!"

I could hear T.K. and Cody's digimon beginning their digivolution process as everyone else ducked for cover, but I still couldn't see Mimi, or Sora. As the flashing lights from T.K. and Cody's digivices finally died down I caught sight of some pink, and some read. Mimi and Sora were crouched behind a bush about fifteen feet away from me, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I was glad Sora was alright, as well as everyone else for now.

"Angemon!"

"Ankylomon!"

"Hand of Fate!" The attacks seemed to stop as Angemon got off an attack.

"Tail Hammer!" I looked up as the attacks stopped just in time to see Ankylomon go flying as he attempted to attack. I got a good look at the attacker, and instantly recognized him as the digimon who had attacked me and Agumon, Astamon Izzy had called him.

Angemon dropped in front of him as he stepped towards Ankylomon, blocking his path.

"Not so fast." Angemon stated, lowering his staff so it was pointing at Astamon. "You'll have to go through me first."

"With pleasure." Astamon replied in the same cool voice I had heard the day I almost died.

"Angle Rod!" Angemon cried out as he swung his staff around towards Astamon. Astamon though simply caught the staff in his hand, and lifted it, with Angemon hanging on over his head. Angemon went flying behind Astamon, and landed with a crunch,

"Angemon!" T.K. called out, just as Tentomon, Biyomon, and Palmon all rushed forward.

"Biyomon digivolve to!" Biyomon grew in size from a small pink bird to a much larger, red phoenix like digimon, who almost seemed covered in flames. "Birdramon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to!" Tentomon also grew in size, going from a small red beetle, into a much larger blue beetle like digimon. His face was covered by a tough looking grey mask. "Kabuterimon!"

"Palmon digivolve to!" Palmon changed from a small plant like digimon, into a much larger, cactus like digimon, with boxing gloves covering her fists. "Togemon!"

The three champions jumped towards Astamon as I finally pulled myself to my feet. I rushed over to where Izzy, the closest person to me, was and helped him to his feet. I glanced back at the battle to see Togemon getting thrown into Kabuterimon, and knowing something was going to have to change. We couldn't take this guy on at the champion level.

"Tai!" I turned as Agumon was running towards me. We'd discussed a little bit of strategy the night before, right before we went to sleep. We'd decided that we'd keep Agumon, and hence WarGreymon, in reserve for when we would truly need him.

We didn't have any idea what kind of fight we'd face when we went to retrieve our Crests, and honestly we weren't up to full power until everyone could digivolve their digimon past the champion level. Therefore we'd decided that Agumon would hold off from entering a battle until it became truly desperate, since for all we knew Piedmon could show up at any time in the battle. If that happened we needed WarGreymon, our most experienced Mega, at full strength to hold off Piedmon so we could escape.

Unfortunately it seemed we wouldn't be able to wait. Astamon had proven himself capable of fighting off an Ultimate easily, let alone the champions that everyone else's digimon were currently fighting as. I'd hoped Piedmon would act as he always had, playing with us instead of actually trying to destroy us, but it looked like I was wrong.

All of that flashed through my mind as Agumon ran towards me. He obviously could see the same thing as me, and had learned a lot since our last fight with Piedmon, at least about when you should commit your full strength.

I pulled my Crest out from under my shirt, and I pulled my digivice off of my belt.

"Let's go Agumon!" I shouted, and I could see a grin on his face. Despite the direness of this battle Agumon truly loved being in his Mega form. He didn't get to go there often, since the energy required was large and we didn't like to flaunt his power, but when he did he didn't mind having to fight a few battles.

Agumon stopped and turned back towards where Astamon had just thrown Birdramon on top of a heap of digimon, which included Angemon and Ankylomon, and started racing towards him.

Astamon turned as Agumon raced towards him, and his eyes narrowed.

"So you're still around? Fancy another battle?" He shouted, raising his gun and aiming it at Agumon. Of course, he didn't seem to notice me behind him, at least not at first, then my Crest activated.

I can't really tell you what any of the others see when Agumon Warp Digivolves, since the only other person to have their digimon do that usually digivolves at the same time as me, but I can tell you what I usually see, and feel.

My Crest glows more intensely than at any other time, letting out a light so bright I'm always amazed that I can see anything afterwards. Since I'm at the epicenter of the light I don't know how far the light shines, or if anyone else even sees the light, but I do. An intense orange light emits from my Crest, and I feel like I'm on fire almost. An energy that I never feel at any other time, even when winning an important soccer game or after sleeping for a day straight. It's a warm energy, not really burning, but still heating up my entire body, and it does spread through my entire body. After a scant second all of this energy rushes into my digivice, whether it is in my hand or at my belt and the light disappears. I feel slightly drained afterwards, but Agumon can certainly use the energy.

"Agumon Warp Digivolve to!" Agumon jumped into the air as the orange light hit him, and all of the energy coursed through his boy. It grew larger, and darkened to an orange color. Muscles that had only been starting to form on his rookie body where now bulging all over his body. Then the armor appeared. A metallic colored armor appeared and covered his chest and shins, sprouting connections straight into his body. His shoulders were covered with golden shoulder pauldrons. Then a golden shield, emblazed with the Crest of Courage, appeared on his back, and split down the middle. Over his hands a pair of weapons appeared, having the appearance of golden claws. Finally his entire head, save the mane of red hair that now flowed form it, was covered in a metallic helmet. "WarGreymon!"

"Mega Claw!" WarGreymon didn't even give Astamon the time to realize what had happened, as he used the momentum that he had built up as Agumon to send Astamon flying.

He calmly landed right where Astamon had been standing, and stood in a fighting stance. Astamon crashed right into a tree, and continued through it, splintering the tree as he went. He did the same for the next three trees behind him until finally his momentum was stopped. He slumped down for maybe half a second, and then jumped forward.

"Hellfire!" He shouted, swinging the gun that had been riding his back around to face WarGreymon. WarGreymon held his ground, and flipped the two individual parts of the Brave Shield around in front of him. He used the shield to protect both himself and the rest us behind him.

The shield didn't even get scratched from the blasts that he sent at it, and after a few seconds he stopped firing.

"Well, it seems like there was a reason Piedmon sent me after you." He said with a glare, just before whistling. I returned his glare as WarGreymon stood up from his crouched stance and returned the Brave Shield to his back.

Before I could formulate some sort of response to this I heard something getting closer. It sounded almost like running dogs, but the digital world didn't really have any dogs, did it.

I turned to Izzy, intent on asking him that very question when suddenly six of the largest dogs I had ever seen burst out of the forest, and lined up with Astamon.

"What the…" I said looking at the dogs. The digital world had dogs? "Izzy, what are those?"

Izzy looked at me in confusion for a second, then seemed to realize that he had his laptop with him. He quickly pulled it up, and activated the digimon analyzer built in.

"Dobermon, an animal digimon that closely resembles a dog from the human world. They are utterly loyal to their masters and will exterminate or hunt down anyone their master orders with their Grey Noise and Black Beam attacks." Izzy summarized quickly.

I turned back to Astamon, just as he gave what I would call a grin.

"Sic'em boys!" He called out, pointing right at WarGreymon and me.

"Uh oh…" I said as the Dobermon jumped straight into the attack. Luckily for me, WarGreymon was more than up to the task of taking care of the dogs.

The first to reached us arrived before the rest of the pack, and was promptly send flying by WarGreymon. He used his Dramon Destroyers to send the Dobermon packing, but the others were upon him before he could react. One grabbed a hold of the exposed skin on his left arm, biting it, and then not letting go. The other three tackled him to the ground, pinning him before he could react. The other two Dobermon jumped up to join the party, but didn't get the opportunity.

"Electro-Shocker!" A blue blast of electricity hit the first one, sending it careening into a tree.

"Hand Of Fate!" A beam of pure energy his the second one, and he was less lucky, as he was instantly deleted by the powerful attack.

All five of the champion level digimon jumped at the attacking Dobermon, pulling them off of WarGreymon. As he stood up I could see a cut on his left arm from where he'd been bitten.

"You ok?" I called out to my partner. I was concerned for my partner. We were in a battle and I didn't want that injury to cause him to get even more hurt.

"Fine. I just hope that dog had his rabies shot recently." He replied, and I grinned at his attempt at humor. He turned towards one of the fighting pairs, intent on intervening on our behalf, but Astamon had other plans.

"I don't think so big guy." He said, jumping in front of WarGreymon.

"Mega Claw!" WarGreymon didn't even blink between Astamon jumping in front of him and launching an attack, but this time Astamon blocked it with his gun.

"Maverick!" He attempted to kick WarGreymon, but he missed as WarGreymon jumped back, faster than most people would have expected. Not only was WarGreymon a powerful fighter, but he was quick in a fight.

"Mega Claw!" WarGreymon countered, only to have Astamon block it once again. This time though WarGreymon added a kick which sent Astamon flying into the ground.

"Get him WarGreymon!" I shouted almost gleefully. Astamon may have been able to beat up on Ultimates easily, but WarGreymon was anything but an Ultimate.

"Tai, have him be careful." Izzy said quietly from right next to me.

"What?" I said, looking down at my friend.

"Astamon's been changed, just like Doumon. Chances are he's just as powerful as WarGreymon." Izzy replied thoughtfully, and I kicked myself mentally.

Of course I should be more careful. I was letting how easy Astamon appeared to be being defeated go to my head. This could easily be a strategy on his part to lower our guard.

"Terra Force!" I looked up to see WarGreymon attack with his most powerful attack, literally pulling the power of the sun between his arms. His gathered the energy into a massive fireball, and hurled it right at Astamon, who was struggling to get up.

The massive attack hit Astamon before he could react, or so it seemed. Sora, Mimi, T.K., and Cody all let out a cheer as they saw that, but Izzy and I refrained. I didn't want to think he'd been taken out that easily, and unfortunately I was right.

I hadn't been able to convey my thoughts to WarGreymon, so he started celebrating in the air, just as a blast of bullets impacted him, causing him to have several explosions, and smoke blow off of him.

"WARGREYMON!" I shouted as my partner was hit. Astamon was seen, standing just outside the crater WarGreymon's attack had formed, holding a still smoking gun, and laughing. It didn't look like he completely avoided the attack, as his body was smoking, and all of the clothing he was wearing was ripped, but he was still standing.

The smoke cleared to reveal WarGreymon holding his Dramon Destroyers in a protective stance. He was a little hurt but not enough to knock him out of the fight. I let out a sigh of relief as I saw this. I didn't want my partner to get hurt, period.

He immediately jumped back into the attack, and it looked like a much more even fight this time. Something had to give, and unfortunately that something wasn't going to give until we found the Crests in this area.

"T.K.!" I called back to my best friends little brother. He ran straight over from where he'd been standing a little back from Izzy and I.

"Yea Tai?" He asked as he came up to me.

"T.K., I want you to take Angemon, and go find the Harmonious One." I said simply, and prepared to deal with his protests.

"What?" He asked, surprised.

"We're too evenly matched in this fight, we need something to turn the odds in our favor, and that thing is MagnaAngemon." I said, mentioning Angemon's Ultimate form, who more powerful than many Mega-Level digimon. "We'll hold these guys off, and you find your Crest."

"But Tai…" He started to say, and I knew what it was going to be. During our first adventure all of us did our best to keep T.K. out of harm's way. He was the youngest of us, and no one wanted him to get hurt. He hadn't appreciated it then, but we were all so much older than him, so he hadn't complained. Now he was going to.

"T.K., I'm not telling you to run away, I'm telling you to go do something so you'll be able to win the fight. Now go!" I said the last part as commandingly as I could, and it seemed to work. He called to Angemon, who'd just disposed of his Dobermon opponent, and they headed into the forest, heading roughly North East.

I watched him go, and then turned back to the battle to try and keep it going as long as we needed.

_Kari_

I swung my tag back and forth in front of me, impatient for once to get on with things here in the digital world. Unfortunately Joe still wasn't, quite ready to keep moving.

I felt a little bad thinking that about Joe, since it wasn't really his fault that he was the reason we were stopped, but I found myself anxious to find the Crest that would allow Gatomon to digivolve again, and get us out of the digital world. I think this is the first time I've ever wanted to make my trip here a quick one, but it was more out of concern for everyone else than a dislike of the digital world.

My brother had been nearly killed here by a digimon, which was still at large, and then another digimon tries to do the same thing to our entire group a few weeks later. Until all of our digimon could digivolve to a level capable of protecting us I just wasn't that comfortable with all of us being here in the digital world.

I wasn't going to run away scared like some child, but that doesn't mean I wasn't concerned for everyone, or thought that everyone else didn't feel the same way. In fact I knew for certain that Tai was just as worried about everyone else.

He could be a little thick headed sometimes, but he really was a good leader, especially where it concerned the digital world. He seemed to have grasped that he almost died here, and that there was a real possibility of a digimon attempting to do that again. I don't know what had caused him to finally grasp that, but whatever it was he was doing his best to protect everyone.

Everyone splitting up was a good example of that. Usually he would have just split us into our respective teams, and had us go our ways, but he'd stopped and thought about how to split us up. I think Davis, Matt, Izzy, and Ken realized what he did, Davis and Matt because they both know how Tai thinks and Izzy and Ken because their smart enough to put it together. He split us up so each group would have an equal amount of protection.

That should allow each group to at least get away from any enemy that attacked us, until the other group could be meet back up with. Of course, that is if we could move very far in the first place.

"Ok! All done!" Joe called out, picking up his emergency bag, which had spilled all over the place when Joe had accidentally tripped over a root.

Davis and Matt both stood up as Joe said this, and pointed in opposite directions.

"Ok, this way!" They said nearly in unison. Gabumon and Veemon looked at each other and shrugged as their partners turned towards each other for an argument.

This was the one problem with how Tai had split us up. Matt was the unofficial second in command of the older digidestined, but Davis was the leader of the younger digidestined, and Tai had failed to put one of them in charge of the other.

Honestly I thought it was a little childish that they couldn't just agree on one method, or one leader, but then again, it was Davis and Matt I'm talking about here. I was the only other person, besides Joe, who remembered some of the fights that Matt and Tai had gotten in the first time any human had entered the digital world, and well, Davis was like Tai, only less mature. So even though Matt was more mature than he had been the first time around, Davis had more than enough immaturity, at times, for the both of them.

"Davis, we should go this way." Matt said, once more gesturing towards the direction he had pointed.

"No Matt, we should go this way. He's the azul dragon of the east, and this way is east." Davis said confidently. I just stayed sitting where I was next to Yolei, Gatomon, and Hawkmon.

"It's the Azure Dragon Davis." Ken said quietly from next to Davis. He and Joe looked like they wanted to try and cool the tensions between the two teens. Hopefully it didn't take that long.

Before Davis could say anything else, a bright orange light filled up the entire forest. I shielded my eyes, as did everyone around me. The glare was huge, though strangely enough not painful.

"What was that?" Davis asked after it subsided a few seconds after it started.

"It was Tai," I say, standing up and turning towards the south, the direction the other group had gone. Joe also seemed to recognize what the light was, but everyone else was confused.

"How do you know?" Ken asked, not accusingly, but inquisitively.

"That's what his Crest does every time Agumon Warp-Digivolves." Joe replied for me, and I was worried.

If Agumon was warp digivolving then something was not going right with the other group, since Tai always held WarGreymon back as his "trump card" in every battle. If he was entering the battle than Tai thought it was truly desperate.

I could see that all the others were thinking the same thing and in near perfect unison we all pulled out or digivices. Everyone but mine let out a flash of light that enveloped their partners.

"Gomamon digivolve to!" Gomamon grew in size into a large walrus like digimon, complete with massive front teeth, shaggy white fur, and a large horn on his forehead. "Ikkakumon!"

"Gabumon digivolve to!" Gabumon grew from a small dog like digimon into a giant wolf like digimon, with a mane of blue and white fur covering his body. "Garurrumon!"

"Veemon digivolve to! ExVeemon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to! Stingmon!"

"Hawkmon digivolve to!" Hawkmon grew from the small hawk like digimon it normally was into a giant red and white feathered bird, with a pair of horns sprouting from his head. "Aquilamon!"

Gatomon was already in her champion level, so she didn't need to digivolve to get to her most powerful level without a Crest or DNA digivolution.

"Ok, let's go!" Matt called as he climbed onto the back of Garurrumon along with Joe. Davis and Ken each climbed onto the shoulders of their partners, while Yolei, Gatomon, and I all climbed onto the back of Aquilamon.

"Talisman Spell!" a voice shouted before any of our digimon could take off or start running. ExVeemon and Stingmon both shouted out in pain, and feel to the ground, sending Davis and Ken flying as they did this.

Up ahead of us, holding its paws out as if it had just thrown something was Doumon, who apparently wasn't defeated the last time we fought it.

"You again!" Matt shouts as he catches sight of Doumon. Garurrumon growls at the fox like digimon, just before Ikkakumon launches an attack at it.

"Harpoon Torpedo!" Several of Ikkakumon's torpedoes hit Doumon while it was staring Matt down, causing a large explosion.

Ikkakumon kept firing Torpedoes though, sending them right where Doumon had been standing repeatedly.

Then suddenly Ikkakumon was sent flying into the nearby trees and Doumon was standing where he had been. This digimon was very fast, too fast for our large champion level digimon.

"Aquilamon, put us down so you can help out!" Yolei called out to her partner, who circled around to land near where Davis and Ken had been knocked to the ground by their partners. Aquilamon took off a second later, Gatomon still on his back as they flew into the air.

"Howling Blaster!" I could hear Garurrumon attacking now, which means that Joe and Matt must have gotten off of his back. I wasn't watching though, as I rushed to find Davis and Ken from where they had landed with their partners. Yolei was with me, looking for our friends, and her boyfriend.

"Davis!" I shouted as the sounds of the battle increased behind me. I finally spotted where ExVeemon had landed, and ran over. Davis was picking himself up off of the ground as I ran over to him. "Davis!" I called again, getting his attention this time. He turned to me and gave me a half wave, then turned back to ExVeemon.

"You ok buddy?" I heard him ask as I got closer to him. I tried not to show it, but I was really relieved that he was ok. He was like a brother to me, and I don't think I could have handled him getting seriously hurt, not after Tai.

ExVeemon shook his head, looking like he was clearing it, and then nodded. "Ready to go Davis!"

"Ken!" Davis shouted, turning to look off to the side, where I could see Ken and Stingmon also getting to their feet, Yolei nearby.

"Ready Davis!" Ken shouted, holding up his digivice. I happened to be looking towards ExVeemon as the two friends started the DNA digivolution process, and I could have sworn that I saw a red rectangle glow for a second on ExVeemon's chest, but then it was gone.

"ExVeemon! Stingmon! DNA Digivolve to!" The two digimon were surrounded by flashing lights, and rose towards each other, only to collide with each other in the middle of their digivolution process.

They both hit the ground with a fairly loud thud, and Davis and Ken looked completely confused, and I'm sure I did as well. What had happened?

Doumon, who seemed to have sent all of the champions flying away for now, looked towards us and let out a short bark of laughter. We turned towards it and it let out another bark.

"You won't see the mutant again, I've made sure of that." Doumon said with a cackle, just before Garurrumon jumped her from behind and pinned her.

I turned back to Davis and Ken, confused as to what that could mean.

"She did something to them." Ken said after a second of what looked like deep thought. "When she showed up she hit ExVeemon and Stingmon first, it must have been some way to block DNA Digivolution."

"Crap." Davis said, looking from where ExVeemon and Stingmon were getting off of the ground, towards where Matt and Joe where cheering on the digimon as they attempted to take on Doumon. "Kari, you and Yolei need to DNA Digivolve. Maybe Silphymon can handle Doumon."

"Davis they can't." Ken said before I could reply, and I looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean we can't Ken?" I asked, and he turned to me.

"Don't you remember?" He asked, and I shook my head. "When Gennai returned Gatomon's Tail Ring she lost the ability to armor or DNA digivolve."

I suddenly remembered what he was talking about as he finished his sentence, and wince at that thought. My brother hadn't been around for that particular conversation, so he didn't realize that we couldn't DNA digivolve, just like I had.

"Crap." Davis said again, just before diving to the ground. Aquilamon flew right over our heads, before crashing into a tree. Davis had tackled Yolei, who had protest up until she saw the flying digimon, and both of them were on the ground.

"Yolei! Davis!" Ken reacted faster than I did, running over to his friend and girlfriend. I followed for a second before noticing that Gatomon had still been riding on Aquilamon. I ran over to where Aquilamon had dedigivolved into a groaning Hawkmon, and Gatomon was struggling to get up.

"Are you ok?" I ask the two of them as I get to them. Hawkmon lets out a grown, but waves a wing halfheartedly, while Gatomon nods her head.

"Stingmon digivolve to!" I see a faint pink light emanating from behind me, as Stingmon shouts out that phrase and I turn around quickly. Ken's Crest is glowing, brightly as he's standing there helping Davis and Yolei to their feet, and it's powering Stingmon's digivolution. "JewelBeemon!" Stingmon emerges from the digivolution very different. His body was covered in green armor, covered with yellow jewels, while both of his arms were covered with sharp looking claws that were made the same way. In his hands was a long spear, with a wide red blade.

In all honestly I thought the digimon look beautiful, for a bug. The armor was very ornate and glittering in the forest light.

"Whoa…" Ken says, as Davis jumps into the air with a cheer.

"You did it Ken! You got your Crest to glow!" Davis exclaimed gleefully as the entire battle seemed to stop to look at JewelBeemon.

"Shot Claw!" One of the spikes covering JewelBeemon's arms shot out, and connected to Doumon's shoulder. Doumon let out a shout as its robe was pierced, but JewelBeemon didn't give it the chance to retaliate, throwing Doumon into the air and out of sight.

JewelBeemon retracted the claw as the digimon flew out of sight, but spun its spear around to face the direction it had sent Doumon.

All of us humans gathered back together as JewelBeemon waited for Doumon to come back, and I didn't know what we were going to do. JewelBeemon, though powerful seeming, couldn't take Doumon on by himself, not when Imperialdramon hadn't been able to finish off Doumon the last time we fought.

"Kari!" Matt called my attention to him, and I realized I'd been spacing a little bit. No wonder my brother always seemed not always there if he was thinking ahead so much, it was distracting.

"Sorry, what's up?" I asked, and Matt looked at everyone in the group for a second, and then turned back to me.

"Kari, you need to go ahead, and go find your Crest." Matt said, and I immediately wanted to protest. I wasn't going to leave everyone behind in a battle like this. Davis though beat me to the punch.

"Matt's right Kari." He said, and that stopped any response in my throat. Davis agreed with Matt? And he didn't want to follow me around as a protector, or protect me here? "Don't look so surprised. The only way we'll beat Doumon is if we get your Crest and Angewomon and JewelBeemon take it on, so go get your Crest. We'll hold off Doumon."

I was surprised at Davis's thoughts, but I guess that helped demonstrate some of his new maturity. I actually think I was really proud that Davis could come up with that on his own, so I just nod.

"Ok, I'll go get my Crest, and get back as soon as possible!" I say, and then turn, heading away from where Doumon had been sent flying, Gatomon running after me.

We dashed through the forest for several minutes before I got too tired to keep up the headlong pace. Gatomon slowed as well, and rose off of her front paws, a requirement for her when running at high speeds.

"What made you choose this direction Kari?" She asked as we both caught our breath.

"It was away from Doumon, why?" I asked back, wondering about her curiosity.

"No reason, it was just south east." Gatomon replied after a second and I shrugged. There wasn't any real reason as to why I choose this direction, but it did seem appropriate for some reason as I thought about it.

After a few minutes of walking we resumed a running pace, but unfortunately I couldn't keep it up for that long. I wasn't a runner, I was a dancer, so I couldn't keep the high speeds up for a long time like I'm sure that Tai would have been able to.

After a few minutes of this, I heard something up ahead of us, and both Gatomon and I ducked behind a tree. A second later T.K. and Angemon entered the clearing we had just vacated.

"T.K.!" I called out in happiness, running out from behind the tree. He and Angemon turned to see the two of us emerge, and T.K. caught me as I jumped into his arms. I was just relived that he was ok.

"Kari, what are you doing out here by yourself?" T.K. asked after I let go of him.

"Doumon attacked our group, and the others are holding her off while I find my Crest." I replied simply, and he nodded. "What about you, where's my brother and Sora and the others?"

"Astamon." T.K. said simply, and my fist clenched at that name. "He attacked us with a pack of digimon. The others are holding him off, just like your group."

"We should hurry T.K." Angemon said after he finished, looking around.

"I agree with him." Gatomon chimed in, and I nodded, along with T.K. We turned and headed almost due east from where we were standing, our digimon following and we made pretty good time. It seemed we were good in picking the direction we should go in, because we soon emerged into a large clearing in the forest, at the center of which was a large temple like structure.

As we took a step towards the temple I felt my tag seem to heat up, and I pulled it out. It was pulsing the same deep pink of my Crest, and seemed to glow more the closer we got to the temple. T.K. had his tag out, and it was doing the same thing, only in the yellow of his Crest.

We approached the entrance to the temple, and put our feet on the first step when a booming voice called out to us.

"Who dares approach the Temple of the East?" It called, and I tensed. The voice did not belong to Azulongmon that much I was certain of. Suddenly in front of us a digimon appeared. It resembled a tiger, with purple shin guards, a red bandanna, and wings. It stared down at us with piercing eyes, and a gulped at the sight of it.

"I asked who approaches the Temple of the East?" It asked once more, and seemed to tense up. Angemon and Gatomon tensed behind us as well.

"Mihiramon, they're obviously the digidestined children we are supposed to be waiting for." Another, much more gentle voice replied for us, and a giant bunny like digimon emerged from the door at the top of the Temple. "No one else could even find this Temple thanks to Azulongmon."

The digimon looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place where I had seen it before. It however stepped down the stairs towards us.

"Antylamon, it doesn't matter, we are supposed to protect this Temple, from anyone." The tiger, Mihiramon replied.

"Fine, children," Antylamon said in reply, turning towards us, "Who are you, and why are you here?"

T.K. seemed frozen as Mihiramon started pacing at the top of the temple, so I had to act for the both of us. For some reason I didn't feel that using our names would mean much to these digimon, so I responded like this.

"We are Light and Hope, here to receive our Crests." I said, and I was surprised, first at how smooth that sounded, and second at the fact that my voice wasn't quivering. Antylamon smiled as I said that, and Mihiramon nodded.

"Very well Light, the two of you may proceed into the temple." Mihiramon replied, before jumping into the sky and circling the temple. I started up the stairs and grabbed a hold of T.K.'s hand to drag him along.

Antylamon nodded to the two of us as we passed it, and spoke.

"You must excuse Mihiramon, he takes his responsibilities as a Deva seriously." The giant bunny said, and Gatomon had to talk back, curious as ever.

"Devas?" She asked, and the bunny smiled again. Something about this digimon seemed to speak to it being a gentle and kind digimon, not what I would have expected for a guard.

"The Devas are twelve digimon, of whom myself and Mihiramon are two, that serve the Harmonious Ones as their closest servants, and protectors." Antylamon replied, and Gatomon nodded. "Now hurry up and retrieve your Crests, your friends are in need of your help."

That was all the motivation I needed to get the rest of the way up the stairs and into the temple. The door however had its own surprise, as a large, green digimon that looked like a skinny dragon with a white beard and antlers looked up as we entered.

It stared at us for a second before turning back down to the sheet it had been looking at, either not caring if we entered the temple, or satisfied that we weren't attackers. Either way the two of us pressed past the dragon quickly, entering the main room of the Temple.

It wasn't a very large room, at least for how large the temple looked from the outside. The back was adorned with the Crests of Light and Hope, and sitting just in front of them were two pedestals.

Gatomon and Angemon waited in the back of the room as the two of us approached the pedestals. I approached the one in front of the Crest of Light, and could see my Crest actually floating over the pedestal. As I approached it the Crest started glowing, and floated right up to me.

It inserted itself right into my tag, which glowed as the Crest returned to its proper place. I turned to look at T.K. and he had the same thing happen to him. Not two seconds after that happened the entire Temple seemed to disappear, and suddenly we were in the forest, just the two of us and our partners. It was quiet for exactly one second, then…

"Hellfire!"

"Brave Shield!"

"Spike Buster!"

"Talisman Shield!"

Attacks and counter attacks could be heard in close proximity, in addition to a multitude of explosions and the sound of trees breaking. I turn back to Gatomon.

"You ready to go?" I ask her simply, and she nods, and my Crest glows and emits a pink light.

"Gatomon digivolve to!" Gatomon grew into a majestic, and angelic figure, definitely feminine. She looked very similar to Angemon, though she was obviously a woman. Her face was covered by the same kind of mask, and a pink ribbon wrapped around behind her, in between her body and the eight wings behind her. "Angewomon!"

Angemon had also digivolved, and together the four of us charged into the conflict.

The first one to notice the appearance of Angewomon as we entered the area where the battle was taking place was JewelBeemon. The two groups of digidestined had managed to reunite, but WarGreymon and JewelBeemon were the only two digimon still fighting on our side. As I watched Doumon dodged around JewelBeemon and attacked WarGreymon, at the same moment that Astamon did. WarGreymon was able to block both attacks, but he looked visibly tired, which was understandable since he was fighting two digimon as powerful as megas with only one ultimate to back him up.

JewelBeemon was still able to keep Doumon mostly occupied, and did so as he noticed Angewomon fly up behind Doumon.

"Looks like your time is up." JewelBeemon said as Angewomon prepared her powerful arrow attack.

"You think you can actually beat me?" Doumon asked with her bark of a laugh.

"No, but she can." JewelBeemon said just before completely disappearing.

"Who…?" Doumon asked as she turned to come face to face with Angewomon.

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon sent her pure white arrow right at Doumon, whose eyes narrowed, just before she disappeared in a puff of smoke. She was completely gone as the smoke cleared.

"Alright!" Someone cheered from where the others were taking shelter with their digimon. Tai and Ken both ran out to catch Koromon and Minomon respectively. I smiled.

We had won a victory that day, taking out Doumon and it looked like Astamon, as well as regaining two Crests.

_So the last line was kinda lane, but I had to end it…it was so long…lol oh well, until next week! Oh wait, one thing. I put up a poll on my profile that can directly affect this story, so please check it out and vote! Thanks!_

_Preview:_

_**I was surprised though as I looked up to where Tai was sitting. Matt and Izzy were both sitting with him, something that didn't usually happen. Tai was the only one, other than Yolei occasionally, who ever came to our practices. It only took me another second to put two and two together, but Ken, as always, was faster than me. "They found another one." He commented as he too looked up at the three older boys.**_

_**We walked back to the group after a few seconds, and everyone was looking at Izzy.**_

"_**Well, as near as I can tell, the temple should be up there." Izzy pointed straight towards the mountain range that was in the opposite direction from where I had been heading.**_

"_**In the mountains?" Joe asked as we all looked at the formidable mountains in front of us.**_

_Review Replies:_

_Zeobide274: yea, but it couldn't be all happy. Expect the possibility of more death as the story progress…maybe. And yes it says that about Piedmon, but it also says that Daemon was the strongest among the Ultimates (Megas) which would include Piedmon. Plus he does have the super ultimate level which Piedmon doesn't. In all honesty it could be argued wither way, and we'd never really know unless Toei decided to make a special episode of Piedmon vs Daemon lol. And Astamon is related to Beelzemon (they have the same gunsmith) but I've never seen a mention of him being his official ultimate level. IT fits the bill if you're trying to find proper digimon though. And no, I've never heard of any champion level for the impmon line, sorry._

_Drake-El: Joe still feels bad for him, they all feel bad for any of the friends that they lose, plus he can't be revived until primary village is fixed._

_TaioraWarrior: Probably a little of both. I'm sure you've influence at least a few of the people who have started doing that lol. And yea, guess he didn't like losing his job last time and wanted to fight for it…look where that got him lol. And yea, that was mostly for the tie scene, which was inspired by a picture I saw once that I thought captured them perfectly. And later! Oh, I just heard from Omegaman133 like Friday, but it was just one message. I'm assuming he left you one as well?_

_Lachelle92: Thank you! Very Much!_

_Supershooter: Thanks! And yea I don't like it either, but it wouldn't be them if they didn't have some sort of argument, and this one actually showed a bit of maturity in their relationship, at least in my mind. And Piedmon always makes things interesting =). And no other Dark Masters are with him yet._


	12. Vermillion Bird of the South

_Happy Sunday everyone! So just a couple of announcements and then we'll dive right into it. First off, I have a poll up on my profile that will determine an added perspective for this story, so go and vote! Please! Otherwise I'll have to choose, and that can only end poorly. Second announcement (and this is mostly just ego stroking for me) but this story officially marks over 200,000 words published for me. I know none of you really care…but I had to brag to somebody! =)_

_**Last Time**__: The Digidestined discovered the general location of the first Harmonious One, Azulongmon, and started searching for his exact location. The gang all split up to try and speed up the search, at which point Doumon and Astamon made a reappearance. During the battle that ensued Kari and T.K., who's Crests were held by Azulongmon, split off to retrieve their Crests. They eventually found a large temple, guarded by three Ultimate Level digimon who let them inside and to their Crests. Soon after that the digidestined were able to drive off Astamon and Doumon._

**Chapter 12 Vermillion Bird of the South**

_Davis_

"Pass here!" I shouted towards Kazuki, who was dashing up the field with the ball. He gave me a glance, and then kicked the ball right at me. I stopped the pass, but then the pair of defenders I hadn't noticed were all over me, and managed to steal the ball away from me. I chased after them as they passed the ball up the field.

That's how practice went, back and forth with a lot of running around. Right now our coach was putting us through a lot of scrimmages against one another rather than drills so it was more enjoyable. That's not to say it was less work, just more fun than running back and forth with no real goal in mind.

I'd been putting a lot of time into soccer in the weeks since we returned from the digital world with Kari and T.K.'s Crests. Izzy's program still hadn't given us another location yet, so everyone was just going through the days like everything was normal. Pretty much every day a few of us digidestined, actually it was all of us unless there was something preventing someone from going, would travel to the digital world and help search for survivors in destroyed villages.

So far we had no luck in catching Piedmon or his lackeys before they destroyed a village, but we were getting closer. I don't think I'd ever wanted to destroy something more in my entire life. Even MaloMyotismon hadn't angered me this much. You had to see what he was doing to the digital world to really understand why that was.

It wasn't just destroying villages, but the way he did it. More than once we had found ourselves picking through the wreckage looking for something that wasn't there, and that rebuilding was more than useless since the village had been wiped out to the last mon. And these digimon wouldn't be reborn, not until Piedmon was gone at least. I had gone with Tai and Matt back to Primary Village to check for survivors that Tai and Sora might have missed, and I was utterly sickened by the sights there. Why any digimon would want to do that to any other digimon, and then prevent the others from being reborn I just didn't know.

Of course everything wasn't terrible. Tai was healing faster than the doctors had expected. The cast on his arm was already off, and he no longer had to use the wheelchair, instead using crutches to get around. He was always out at practice yelling with coach at all of us, and encouraging us even though he couldn't play with us yet.

Unfortunately his leg was going to take even longer to heal, maybe even a few more months, though Tai was determined to get moving before then. I don't think he would actually be able to, though it definitely wouldn't be for lack of trying, I just didn't know if his body would respond how his brain wanted it to.

Luckily that didn't prevent him from helping us in the digital world. While we had never actually caught up with Piedmon, yet, we had caught up with several of his minions, all of whom were at the Mega-Level somehow, and watching WarGreymon tear into those minions was a sight to see. He fought even better than Imperialdramon had before Doumon had interrupted mine and Ken's DNA digivolution ability. I guess the one time he was actually fought to a standstill by BlackWarGreymon was because he hadn't fought in that form in years, because he handled his opponents even better than that fearsome fighter had.

Coach blew his whistle a few seconds later, and gestured for all of us to huddle up. I jogged over, lagging just behind Kazuki, and that was yet another thing to worry about. Kazuki was filling in at Tai's position while Tai was gone, and was a really nice guy. Unfortunately his sister and I were…well dating. It wasn't even my fault. She was new this semester, and I decided to introduce myself, and she'd latched onto me, literally by the end of the day. She was a nice enough girl, so I didn't think there'd be any problem with the two of us dating, unfortunately Kazuki had found us making out, and things had gotten worse from there.

He was fine on the soccer field, but would only glare at me off of the field, and I honestly was starting to get a little concerned. He wasn't really still going to try and hurt me was he? I hoped not.

I should ask Tai about that… I thought to myself as he started glaring at me as we all circled up around Coach. A few minutes later we were all released, and after grabbing my stuff, I headed over to where Tai was sitting in the stands, talking with Ken. He was coming over to spend the night since it was Friday, something we did at one or the other of our houses pretty much every weekend. Since Ken lived in a different district, and we didn't exactly take a lot of classes together, so we spent a lot of time together on the weekends.

I was surprised though as I looked up to where Tai was sitting. Matt and Izzy were both sitting with him, something that didn't usually happen. Tai was the only one, other than Yolei occasionally, who ever came to our practices. It only took me another second to put two and two together, but Ken, as always, was faster than me.

"They found another one." He commented as he too looked up at the three older boys.

"Alright!" I shouted, pumping a fist into the air, and Ken stifled a laugh. I could see Tai, Matt, and Izzy laughing as they watched us, but I didn't care. It was time to go get some more Crests and get that much closer to getting Piedmon.

The three older digidestined met us at the bottom of the stands.

"So you found another one Izzy?" I asked before even bothering to say hi to them.

"Yes Davis, he found another one, now calm down before you pee yourself or something." Tai said with a smirk. I delivered a punch to his arm, at which point he let out a gasp of pain.

"Ah!" He shouted, grabbing his arm, and I was instantly concerned. I'd hit his bad arm…I didn't think it was that hard, but what if I re-broke his arm.

"Davis! That was his bad arm!" Matt said after glancing between me and Tai.

"Crap, Tai, I'm sorry, I didn't realize…" I said, but stopped as Tai stopped wincing and grinned. "That wasn't your bad arm was it?"

"Nope." Tai said, and I just hung my head low. Tai could always trick me with ease, and I always fell for it. It had started when we first met and we were both younger, but for some reason I kept falling for them.

Matt just laughed at me, though Izzy and Ken didn't join in at least. Matt then took a breath and gasped.

"Damn, you two smell." He said, covering his face.

"What? Is the smell of a little hard work too much for the rock star?" Tai asked quickly with a laugh.

"Yea!" I added with a laugh.

Tai grinned, then sobered up.

"Ok guys, in all respect to your hard work, you do smell. Go shower and meet us in the computer lab." Tai told us, and we nodded, each heading our spate ways.

Fifteen minutes later we were all in the computer lab, at least everyone who was going to be able to make it. Kari, Sora, and Yolei had gone to America for the weekend to visit Mimi before we thought anything would happen, and we couldn't reach any of them, so it would only be the men on this trip.

"Ok, everyone's here go ahead Izzy." Tai said after Ken and I entered the room, and took the seats that Tai gestured for us to take. I turned to Izzy, who stood up from where he had been talking to Cody and Joe.

"We've found the location of the next Crest." Izzy said, and I had to interrupt him, already confused.

"Wait, I thought we were looking for the Harmonious Ones?" I asked, and Izzy turned to me.

"So did I at first Davis. That's what Gennai explained to me. But it seems the program finds some sort of 'temple' that holds the Crests of the Harmonious One whose area it is in." Izzy replied, actually making sense to me for once. "At least that's what T.K. and Kari encountered with the first place we found."

"Oh. That makes sense." I replied, and Izzy continued.

"In addition to running the search program I've been doing some research on Doumon and Astamon in the event that we run into the two of them again." Izzy started, and I leaned a little forward. "There isn't much data on them, but I did find out some information about their attributes. Doumon is a data type digimon, while Astamon is a virus type. This was actually somewhat surprising to me, since I expected both of them to be viruses, which seems to point out that a digimon's type doesn't necessarily dictate whether it is good or…."

Wow, that's such a nice color for this room. The off-white makes you hate it even more than if they'd used a good color like blue…. My mind drifted to random things in the room as Izzy digressed into some topic. Luckily Ken seemed to realize what was going on, stopped Izzy, and got everyone's attention back.

Man…every time Izzy starts talking he manages to lose the entire room… I thought as Izzy resumed what he was trying to tell us.

"…virus type, so we've decided that should they attack us together MagnaAngemon and JewelBeemon will deal with Astamon, while WarGreymon engages Doumon." Izzy finished, and I just nodded. I may not know exactly why Izzy wanted the digimon to fight that way, but one thing I had learned is that Izzy is almost always right, and to go with what he says, especially if Ken was nodding in agreement, like he is now.

"What? Why can't I take out that punk Astamon!" Koromon piped up from where he was sitting in Tai's lap. "I'm a Virus Buster!"

"Yes Koromon." Izzy replied, "You are, as is MagnaAngemon. The difference is MagnaAngemon isn't any more powerful than an ordinary Ultimate against Data and Vaccine type digimon, only against Virus digimon is he going to be devastatingly effective."

"Oh…" Koromon replied, looking down at the ground.

"Hey don't worry buddy that just means you get to take out Doumon all by yourself!" Tai said, trying to cheer the little pink ball up. That seemed to word as he stopped looking so down.

"Anything else Izzy?" Tai asked, and Izzy shook his head. "Well, what are we waiting for, let's go get this Crest!"

We all stood up around the computer, except Tai, who just faced it from his chair, and held up our digivices.

~Digital World~

For once I didn't end up on the bottom of the pile, landing on top of the pile this time, and I jumped up gleefully. I'd been at the bottom about a dozen times in a row now, and felt it was good to finally not be buried. Cody was the unfortunate one who was stuck at the bottom, but he didn't look to worse for wear as Tai helped him to his feet.

"That wasn't fun at all." Cody commented.

"You're tellin' me partner." Armadillomon, who had been near the bottom with Cody, replied to his human partner.

I patted the younger boys shoulder.

"We all have to go through the pain some time Cody." I said, with a grin.

"Look at Davis, Matt. One time not on the bottom, and he makes it into a rite of passage for Cody." Tai said, elbowing Matt and then pointing at Davis.

"I heard that!" I called to the two of them, moving towards one of the rather large hills surrounding where we had landed. The entire area was covered in the hills in fact. It looked like we were near the mountains in fact.

"Is this the way we're supposed to go Davis?" Veemon asked as I stopped after walking a few feet. I actually didn't know, so I didn't feel like going too far in the wrong direction.

We walked back to the group after a few seconds, and everyone was looking at Izzy.

"Well, as near as I can tell, the temple should be up there." Izzy pointed straight towards the mountain range that was in the opposite direction from where I had been heading.

"In the mountains?" Joe asked as we all looked at the formidable mountains in front of us.

"Looks like it." Tai replied. "Isn't there a closer digiport Izzy?"

"Tai if there was I'd put us there. This is the closest one, and it's still so far away I can get a fairly accurate location with the locator." Izzy replied.

Tai looked up towards the mountains, and then at our group.

"We may have to come back tomorrow. We aren't going to make it up there in a single afternoon." He said quietly.

"We could get up there!" Wormmon chimes in, and everyone looks at him.

"Wormmon, I hate to put down your optimism, but that's a lot of mountain to climb…" Ken said, turning to his partner, but stopped mid-sentence. "Unless you all digivolved into digimon that can fly!"

"YEA!" I shout, instantly seizing onto that idea. We could fly up the mountains.

"Good thinking Wormmon." Ken praised his partner.

"Well, I guess that means we're going." Tai said with a nod.

"Yep. Now let's get digivolving!" I finish off, holding up my digivice, which instantly started to glow.

"Veemon digivolve to! ExVeemon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to! Stingmon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to! Kabuterimon!"

"Patamon digivolve to! Angemon!"

"Gomamon digivolve…"

"Gomamon you can't digivolve!"

"Ah, why not Joe?"

"Ikkakumon's too big to carry up the mountain!"

"Are you calling me fat?"

That pretty much ended the digivolution process as every started laughing at Joe and Gomamon. I hadn't realized it through the limited interactions I had with them, but they were a funny pair, or at least Gomamon made them that way.

Tai looked at the four digimon, and nodded.

"Ok, now all we have to do is find this temple. Matt, you go with Izzy and lead the way since we'll need your tag to find the Temple." Tai told the group, and everyone split up. Cody went with Ken and Stingmon, while Joe and Gomamon went over to T.K. and Angemon. Tai and Agumon made a beeline for ExVeemon and me.

"Got room for two more?" Tai asked with a grin.

"Yea!" ExVeemon exclaimed before I could answer.

Kabuterimon started to take off at this point, since Matt had been the first to head towards one of the flying digimon.

"Let's go!" I exclaim, climbing onto ExVeemon's back. Tai and Agumon climbed up a second later.

"You sure you can handle the weight?" I asked, suddenly concerned. ExVeemon wasn't the most powerful when it came to flight lift since he was designed for weaving and dodging in the air, not sustained flight.

"YEA!" He exclaimed, and then jumped into the air.

He seemed a little shaky at first, but then started to pick up speed, and smooth out. I lowered my goggles, the square replacements for the ones Tai had let me borrow, over my eyes, to help protect them from the wind. I let out a yell of pure pleasure as we soared through the air.

There was nothing quite as exhilarating as flying. The sense of freedom, of being up there above everything, all the problems and bad things in the world, was amazing. You couldn't get this same feeling on a passenger plane, unless you were actually flying it. You had to be in the air yourself to get the full effect, and it was great. Wind rushing into your face, the sudden feeling of free fall when you dropped down…it was exhilarating.

"Wahoo!" Tai shouted right next to me, and I could tell he felt the same thing about flying. His own goggles were down over his eyes as well. I had to laugh though at Agumon next to him. He looked just like a dog sticking his head out a window, with his lips being pushed back to reveal his clenched teeth.

It took us a few seconds to relocate Kabuterimon in the air, and a few more as we waited for the others to join us. Once we were all assembled we flew straight for the mountains. Kabuterimon led us straight up, and the initial adrenaline from taking off was wearing off. It was getting colder by the second, somewhat because of the altitude, but mostly because of the wind blasting past us. It was nice, but also freezing us.

Suddenly Kabuterimon headed for the ground below us, and everyone followed. Seconds later and we were all on the ground, trying to warm ourselves up.

"Are we there Izzy?" Tai asked, as he rubbed his hands together. His goggles were still down, which was a reminder for me to put mine back on top of my head.

"Not all the way. This is about the center of the area where my locator says it is." Izzy replied, finally shutting his laptop.

"And about time you got here." A rather bored voice abruptly entered our conversation. I spun towards it source, only to see Doumon and Astamon standing on one side of the clearing we had landed in, glaring over at us.

"You two again?" Tai said returning their glare.

"Didn't getting your butts kicked last time not teach you to leave us alone?" I threw in with my own glare.

The two digimon didn't reply with words, instead pulling up their paint brush and gun respectively.

"Watch out!" Angemon shouted as the digimon dove between us and the attack. There were three bright lights accompanying that, a gold one and a light pink one, though the orange one outshone them all.

"Angemon digivolve to!" Angemon didn't go through that large of a change between his Champion and Ultimate forms, just gaining another pair of wings to bring his total to eight, and gaining different armor than what he had been wearing. His mask was now elongated, extending well over his head, and was purple. On his shoulder was a purple beam shield, and on the opposite wrist was his beam sword, Excalibur. "MagnaAngemon!"

"Stingmon digivolve to! JewelBeemon!"

"Agumon warp digivolve to! WarGreymon!"

WarGreymon took position directly between the incoming attacks and all of us humans, quickly pulling the Brave Shield on his back out and forward to block the attack.

Astamon's individual bullets ricocheted off of the shield, while Doumon's energy attack hit it and caused a large explosion. Astamon kept pouring out his attack into the middle of the explosion where WarGreymon was, and I could hear the shots still ricocheting off of the shield. WarGreymon was still somehow able to get every single one of the shots fired by Astamon, despite the fact that he couldn't possibly see them from the smoke.

He didn't have to for a very long time, as MagnaAngemon and JewelBeemon jumped Astamon from either side. MagnaAngemon got his beam sword to cut Astamon's gun right at the barrel, cutting off his attack. That caused Astamon to fall backwards uncontrollably. That was stopped after a few seconds as JewelBeemon hit him from behind, sending him face first into the ground.

Those two seemed to have Astamon well controlled, but Doumon turned towards them as she wasn't attacked, and prepared to assist her partner. That's when WarGreymon exploded out of the smoke that had been surrounding him. He must have kicked off rather hard, since his movement through the smoke sent it flying in his wake. He flew right at Doumon, so fast and low to the ground that his out stretched claws, ready to strike, kicked up dust in his wake. He caught her with one of his claws before she could begin to assist her partner, and tossed her into the sky.

Doumon recovered before WarGreymon could get a finishing blow in on her, and used her paintbrush to block his follow up attacks. WarGreymon was still pushing her back with a steady stream of blows. Soon they moved farther away from us, and the trees blocked them from my view.

"ExVeemon, let's go help out WarGreymon!" I called out to my partner, anxious to help out now that we seemed to have the upper hand over Astamon and Doumon.

"Davis stop!" Tai called out, and out of reflex I froze. Tai had used that specific phrase to get me to stop doing something he didn't like almost as long as I had known him. Usually it was on the soccer field, but Tai would use it just about anywhere if he needed instant results. He'd gotten me as a kid to respond to that command by freezing in place, and it still worked even now.

"What's the matter Tai?" I asked after a second.

"Don't go after WarGreymon, he can handle himself just fine." Tai replied, and I started to protest. Of course WarGreymon could handle himself, but I may as well help him. It would make the battle go faster, and give me something to occupy my mind.

"Davis, we may need everyone's digimon to fight. Last time Astamon had help. If they brought help this time we'll need all of the other digimon will be needed to hold them off of MagnaAngemon and JewelBeemon." Tai pointed out, and I stopped arguing. Tai made perfect sense, in fact, I should have thought of that myself.

"Right." I said instead of arguing, and Tai patted my shoulder.

"Don't worry Davis, you're just focusing on the here and now. You had the right instincts for that, getting the fight over with quickly." Tai told me, trying to make me feel better.

"Thanks Tai." I replied, accepting the praise. Tai didn't like making any of his friends feel bad if they did something wrong, or had a mess up, but he would be honest, especially if the situation was something they could learn from.

I turned back to the battle as ExVeemon settled down next to Kabuterimon, Armadillomon, Gabumon, and Gomamon. I almost had to feel bad for the digimon. They had to sit back and watch their friends protect them, and their partners. That couldn't be easy for digimon that were used to being protectors.

"Excalibur!" MagnaAngemon shouted as he attempted to bring his sword down on top of Astamon. Unfortunately Astamon seemed to have fully recovered from the surprises of the first attacks directed at him, and jumped forwards into JewelBeemon. He hit JewelBeemon with a powerful punch before JewelBeemon could react to his sudden change of directions, and then used the momentum from the punch to push himself out of MagnaAgnemon's reach.

"Maverick!" Astamon landed from his kick off, and jumped right back at MagnaAngemon. The angle digimon had no time to react, but somehow managed to avoid the kick from Astamon, who instead hit a tree, demolishing it.

"Spike Buster!" JewelBeemon had recovered from his early hit, and was attempting to drive his spear into Astamon, who stopped the spear with his hands, holding the blade between his two hands.

It seemed to be taking all of his strength to hold the spear there, and that gave MagnaAngemon the opportunity he needed.

"Now! MagnaAngemon!" T.K. shouted out, seeing the same thing that MagnaAngemon and I saw.

"Gate of Destiny!" MagnaAngemon flew into the air directly behind Astamon and JewelBeemon, and drew a circle in the air with his Excalibur sword. The circle filled in, and a closed door took shape there, spinning in the same direction that MagnaAngemon had drawn the circle. The doors opened to reveal a portal of sorts, which immediately began sucking in everything in front of it, including Astamon and JewelBeemon.

MagnaAngemon had almost gotten both Astamon with his Gate of Destiny the last time we fought him, but had fled as soon as he drew the Gate. This time Astamon wouldn't be so lucky.

"This is your exit!" JewelBeemon grunted, just as he gave a full push that sent Astamon flying right at the Gate of Destiny. That's when things stopped going right. Instead of being sucked in by the Gate, Astamon floated in front of it, and laughed.

"What?" T.K. asked looked up at this, and I was just as surprised. I'd seen the gate suck up BlackWarGreymon, who had been one of the most powerful MEGA digimon we had ever fought, without a single problem, while he had been exerting his full power to avoid being sucked in. Despite that somehow Astamon was not being sucked in.

"You didn't expect the same trick that worked on my master to work on me did you?" Astamon asked with a laugh.

"How about this trick?" A deeper voice asked, and Astamon turned around, just in time to duck one of WarGreymon's Terra Forces. WarGreymon had returned.

He looked a little worse for wear, but he jumped at Astamon more than gamely, ready for a fight.

"Mega Claw!" He jumped straight into a close attack against Astamon, who managed to block the first few jabs, but WarGreymon kept attacking until he broke through Astamon's defenses. His final blow sent Astamon flying away from both the other digimon, and us digidestined.

"Treasure Lance!"

"Treasure Bow!"

"Horn of Desolation!"

First a lance of white light hit Astamon, followed seconds later by several smaller, though similar, lances, and finally a series of shockwaves hit him. The resulting explosion sent Astamon flying out of sight. WarGreymon watched the direction that he had been blown in warily for a few seconds, and then dedigivolved into Koromon.

Seconds later three digimon landed in the midst of our group.

One was a rather large serpent like digimon, which was almost completely white, except for the large shell just below its head, which was purple. Behind that digimon was one that reminded me of a goat, walking on four legs, and having a pair of purple horns. Of course, the two arms and the torso that extended from the lower body ruined the image of a goat. Finally the largest of the three was a large mule like digimon, with dark purple skin, and a large horn of sorts on its back. Strangely enough it walked on two legs, rather than the four like a normal mule…then of course it was a digimon.

MagnaAngemon and JewelBeemon didn't seem to relax at all as the three digimon came into view, and I had to agree with the two digimon. While none of the digimon were making any sort of threatening move, or posture, there was something about them that set me on edge. The air around them just wasn't the same one that most of our digimon excluded, it was almost…evil.

"Guys calm down!" Koromon said from where he was sitting on the ground in front of the three digimon. "These three are friends…kinda." He said, looking back and forth between the five digimon.

"Sandiramon, Pajiramon, and Indramon, all Ultimate Level Exalted Beast digimon." Izzy chimed in from where he was aiming his digivice at the three digimon. "They are all members of the Deva, twelve digimon which are servants and protectors of the rulers of the digital world." Izzy finished, and then looked up at the three digimon in awe.

Exalted Beast digimon? What's so exalted about them? I wondered to myself as the tension seemed to ease a bit.

"Izzy, who exactly are the rulers of the digital world?" Tai asked after a few seconds of silence. Izzy shrugged, but luckily the digimon seemed inclined to help us out.

"You know our masters as the Harmonious Ones, humans." The goat like digimon, Pajiramon I think Izzy called it, said in reply. "We are here to escort you to the Temple of the South, and to protect you from Piedmon's forces." Pajiramon then gestured to us to follow it, and started cantering almost directly south of where we were standing.

We stood around for a second, trying to decide whether we should follow her or not, and then Koromon jumped up into Tai's arms. "Come on Tai, these three helped us. What harm could come from following them?" The little pink ball asked his partner and Tai thought for a moment before shrugging.

The two of them started after the goat like digimon. I waited maybe half a second before walking after Tai, ExVeemon following me. I heard everyone else start following us a few seconds later. 

_Matt_

I wasn't sure if we could trust these digimon completely as we walked behind the goat like one, Pajiramon. The other two followed behind us, either guarding us, or preventing our escape. I don't know if this was just a completely random streak of paranoia, or what it was.

I had been looking over Izzy's shoulder when he pulled up the information on these digimon, and one thing had jumped out at me from each of their profiles: VIRUS.

Every one of our enemies had been a virus type digimon, and while they had occasionally used data type digimon as minions the overwhelming majority of their forces had been virus type digimon as well. That left an instant dislike in my mind for any virus type digimon. We had never met one that wasn't our enemy in some way, which is probably why I expected these three to be the same way.

Fortunately, I guess, I didn't have that long to stew in my thoughts, as Pajiramon stopped at the bottom of one of the mountains that we were surrounded by. This seemed to be one of the higher peaks around the area we were in, and I had the uncomfortable feeling that we were about to have to climb it.

"All but Courage and Friendship must remain here." Pajiramon said as it turned towards us, and my eyes narrowed.

"Why just the two of us?" Tai asked before I could, and that told me that my friend was just as suspicious of these digimon as I was, even if he didn't show it.

"Only the bearers of the Crests that were held in the Temple may enter its precincts." Indramon replied in a deep, rumbling voice from behind us. "No others may enter."

Tai turned back to me, and I could tell from his look that he wasn't entirely comfortable with that. If this was a trick it would leave the two of use to face off with three Ultimates, and Koromon was too weak to digivolve from the looks of things. Not a very good combination. I just shrugged at Tai. It wasn't my decision if we should go forward, and it didn't really matter. I didn't really think we had much of a choice but to trust these digimon, but then of course my judgment was at least partially clouded by the fact that this was my Crest we were after.

"Ok," Tai replied a few seconds later, making up his mind. "Me and Matt will go up, the rest of you stay here."

Tai started forward at that point, and Gabumon and I followed right after him. Pajiramon led the way forward, and I was surprised that after a few feet steps appeared.

A broad staircase lead up the side of the mountain towards a now visible structure on the mountain side.

"Where did that come from?" I asked, pointing up towards the structure.

Tai, Koromon, and Gabumon all looked where I was pointing, but the digimon answered my question.

"The Deva are not the only guards of this Temple. Secrecy is its greatest defense. Only those chosen to guard it may enter." Pajiramon replied.

"So why can we enter?" Gabumon asked for us. "You were the Chosen Children destined to protect the South, and this Temple, from Piedmon and his Dark Masters." Pajiramon replied. "Each Harmonious One gave up some of their own power to form the Crests whose Traits you personify. As the most powerful of the Harmonious Ones, Azulongmon and Zhuqiaomon were able to pour the most power into their Crests. This allowed the digimon partnered with those Crests to reach more powerful levels than their fellows."

"So does that mean that all of the others digimon also have a Mega level?" I asked, curious about this. Tai and I's digimon were the only ones to ever make it past the Ultimate level, though in some ways T.K. and Kari's digimon were just as powerful as many Mega levels even in their Ultimate forms.

"All digimon in this world have a fully developed line of evolution. Most are rebooted to the In-Training level before ever reaching that level. Your Crests allow your young digimon to reach levels of power far beyond what any other digimon even close to their age could reach." Pajiramon replied again answering my question. Maybe this digimon wasn't so bad after all. "But to answer your question, yes they all have a Mega level. Unfortunately all of the Harmonious One powered Crests have already reached their full power. There is no way for any of your digimon to reach a level beyond which they have already achieved."

I had more questions about that, I seemed to be channeling Izzy in his absence, but Pajiramon stopped.

"I can travel no farther." The digimon said, stopping a few steps from the entrance to the Temple. Tai and I nodded to the digimon, earlier distrust mostly gone thanks to the straight answers we had received for once.

The two of us, with Gabumon following us and Koromon in Tai's arms, entered the Temple. The entrance was a long stone corridor, which was rather plain. I guess all of this guarding and secrecy had gotten me to expect more ornamentation and shiny stuff. Ahead I could see a light that must have been one of the main rooms. When we exited the corridor I realized that it was _the_ main portion of the Temple, and it was anything but a room. It was a massive garden, covered in all sorts of flowers, and trees, and other things that grow. The only thing missing was the animals of the forest in this one.

I stared around looking at all the different sights around me, and was pretty amazed. Sora would have loved it here.

I'd spent more than enough time with my former girlfriend to know how much she had come to appreciate the work that her mother did. She would have appreciated this garden immensely I'm sure.

"Man…Sora's going to be mad she missed this one…" Tai murmured softly. I'm pretty sure he didn't intend for me to hear that, so I didn't reply, though I did laugh on the inside as his thoughts mirrored mine.

"Even if your young friend had traveled with you young Kamiya, she still would not have seen my Garden." A booming voice echoed through the Garden.

I spun around immediately, just as I'm sure Tai and Gabumon did. Perched above the entrance we had just come through was the largest digimon that I had ever seen. It was a massive red bird, with a number of large wings, and had twelve spheres, that looked like red versions of the digi-cores that Azulongmon had given us last year, around its neck. This digimon had to be the Harmonious One that we were seeking out, Zhuqiaomon. I don't think I've ever been more intimidated in my life.

He turned his head, and clicked his beak. "Ah, where are my manners." The digimon said after a second of mutual staring. "I am Zhuqiaomon, the Guardian of the South. And the four of you are Tai Kamiya, the bearer of Courage, his partner Koromon, Matt Ishida, the former and soon to be current bearer of Friendship, and his partner Gabumon."

I didn't really know what to say at this point, I mean, what was there to say to one of the most powerful digimon in the whole digital world, not to mention one of its rulers.

"I cannot stay here long as I am needed in the East for a discussion with Azulongmon, but I needed to give the two of you a warning." Zhuqiaomon said before Tai could be his usual talkative self.

"A warning?" Tai asked.

"Yes. Things are not the same as they were before." The giant bird like digimon replied.

"What do you mean?" Tai asked, and I followed that up with a better question.

"And why are we just now hearing about this?" I asked, and Zhuqiaomon's eyes locked right onto me.

"The other Harmonious Ones do not believe that we should be interfering in the digital world at all. Myself and Azulongmon convinced the others that our best plan would be to return the Crests to their human bearers, you. Unfortunately all of the others are still set in their ways." Zhuqiaomon replied. "They wouldn't appear to you unless there was no other option."

"But you're doing that right now." I stated, quite obviously.

"I've never agreed with that policy, especially after you digidestined saved us." The large digimon replied, and I found a sudden liking for this digimon, a rebel among his brethren, not to mention actually wanting to actually help us.

"Well thanks." Tai said, rubbing the back of his head.

"But what did you mean by things are different?" I threw in.

Tai would probably get distracted by having a Harmonious One giving what amounted to praise.

"Piedmon is not the same as he was when you faced him before. He is somehow more powerful than he was the last time you encountered him." Zhuqiaomon answered, much to my satisfaction. "Something changed him, and made him that way."

"Changed him?" I asked.

"Something? As in something even more powerful than he is now?" Tai added right after me.

"I do not know digidestined, and unfortunately I feel you will be the ones to discover this, not I." The massive digimon replied. "Now I must leave. Matt, your Crest lies in the center of my Garden. Use it wisely, and stop Piedmon before it's too late." Zhuqiaomon opened all of his wings at this point and took off into the air, rising so fast that he was out of sight in only a few seconds.

I turned to Tai. "That was different." Tai said as I turned to him.

"Yea, but I liked Zhuqiaomon. He was actually honest with us." I replied, and a smirk appeared on Tai's face.

"Yea, that was nice for once. Now, let's get that Crest of yours so we can go home." Tai said, and the two of us headed down the path towards the center of the Garden.

Soon a structure of sorts appeared. It seemed to be a smaller temple of sorts, but an open air one, with columns supporting an open roof. Inside were two pedestals, each emblazoned with a Crest, one with mine the other with Tai's. I walked up to the one with the Crest of Friendship on it. Standing just a few feet from it I could make out the tablet of my Crest floating above the pedestal. As I approached it the Crest started glowing the deep blue that it had always glowed, as did my Tag. A second later the Crest flew off of the Pedestal, and was in my tag.

I had my Crest back.

_Another sudden ending, but that's about what I felt it should be. Next week will be a little bit better, I promise. So not much to say here, so here's your preview._

**_Preview_**_: _

**"_This place is nice." I said as we continued through the woods. _ **

**"_Mhmm." Tai replied, also looking around the woods. Then my Tag started to glow, causing both of us to stop in place. _ **

**"_Is that doing what I think it is?" Tai asked, gesturing towards my Crest, which was faintly pulsing red. _**

**_I simply nodded holding it up, and spinning in a circle, trying to figure out which direction would lead us towards my Crest._**

_**Review Replies:**_

_DephsXylex: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. And you're quite right about Piedmon. I'd think he'd be trying a little harder to stop them from getting their Crests back though…_

_TaioraWarrior: Hehehe, yea, I decided that Matt and Davis needed a little bit of a push to get them away from their bachelor status, and Tai was the best person for that in my opinion. Kazuki though is a little over protective. He's kinda acting how I imagine Tai would if someone on his soccer team had been making out with Kari…so not well lol. And I didn't really mean for her to channel Jun, though she's going to end up sorta like a female Davis, at least where relationships are concerned, namely very up front and forward, which I guess is how Jun is. And thank you for pointing that out…it made me feel even worse lol._

_Lachelle92: Lol thanks! And I take that as a huge compliment. I try and keep it as like the show as I could, and apparently I'm doing a decent job!_

_LyraXEthan: Thanks!_

_Zeobide274: lol something like that. And thanks! Now as for WarGreymon being able to take out Astamon, here's how I'm doing fighting comparisons for digimon. It's a twofold system, first a digimon's power factors into things, and then its experience. A more experienced digimon could take on a more powerful digimon and fight it to a draw and vise versa. WarGreymon is at the bottom of the top third of the Mega digimon (or more powerful than 2/3 of all other Megas. Imperialdramon is at the same level, and MetalGarurumon is only slightly less powerful) and he is also very experienced having fought a lot of battles. Now Astamon has been brought up to the same level that Piedmon was at when the digidestined first fought him, though he doesn't have any experience. That's why WarGreymon wasn't able to defeat him in that battle, not to mention he was more concerned with delaying the digidestined than fighting a battle to the death. Hope that serves as a sort of explanation for you. (I know the bias you're talking about though, since I have the same one. I try hard not to make WarGreymon too powerful though, because that wouldn't be realistic.)_

_Supershooter: Yep, now it's two down, two to go. And yes and no. JewelBeemon is a pretty powerful digimon, almost in the same class as Angewomon, but Angewomon is in that same class as Myotismon basically more powerful than pretty much every Ultimate around and nearly a Mega herself. She of course didn't actually kill Doumon, but just cause her to flee when her mission had obviously failed. And I'm glad you enjoyed!_


	13. Temple of the West

_Well it's a little later than usual, but here's your next chapter, enjoy! Also, don't forget to vote on the poll on my profile for a new perspective in this story, voting closes next week!_

_Disclaimer: I can has digimon? __**Random Toei Rep:**__ NO!_

_**Last Time:**__ While all of the girls headed off for a weekend in America Izzy's laptop located the next Temple of the Harmonious Ones, so the boys travelled to the digital world on their own. Just as they were getting close they ran into Astamon and Doumon once more, and had another big fight. The fight was interrupted by three digimon, the Devas of the Harmonious One Zhuqiaomon, who sent the attackers flying away. They then led the digidestined to the Temple of the South, where Tai and Matt continued to retrieve Matt's Crest. That wasn't the only thing they found there, as Zhuqiaomon himself was waiting at the Temple to deliver a warning to the digidestined. After a short conversation Matt retrieved his Crest and they all headed home._

**Chapter 13 Temple of the West**

_Sora_

I was walking up to the school by myself for the first time in a very long time. It had been nearly three weeks since the boys had decided to go gallivanting off to the digital world without all of us girls, and nearly a month and a half since Tai had left the hospital.

Sometimes it really didn't seem that long. Things had passed very quickly with nearly daily trips to the digital world after school and practice. After that I usually spent the afternoon at the Kamiya's apartment, or all of us would go to one of the other apartments in our building. These weren't just social gatherings, but usually turned into strategy sessions of sorts, at least for the boys.

They always got caught up in trying to figure out new ways to catch up to Piedmon, or defend some of the villages and settlements in the digital world. That's not to say I wasn't interested, in fact quite the opposite, usually I helped them out, but sometimes I missed the normalcy of life before this new digital crisis.

I'd talked to Tai a time or two about the same thing, and I could tell that it was starting to get to him. In simple terms we were over exerting ourselves. Not only were we constantly spending time in the digital world, for little or no results unfortunately, but we still had everything in the real world to deal with. Tai, Matt, and I were seniors, Izzy and Mimi were juniors, Yolei was a sophomore, and Kari, Davis, T.K. and Ken were freshmen, all with high school workloads that were getting larger each day. It was driving all of us to exhaustion even without the extra sports that all of us did, but no one could really be convinced to stay back from the digital world, even when it was offered for them to.

It almost made me wish we were stranded in the digital world like the first time, when the only thing that we had to worry about was finding food, and how to fight the next enemy. I, at least, had a bigger respect for what the younger digidestined had done last year during their face offs with MaloMyotismon. Juggling life and the digital world was a tough proposition, and I felt that something would have to let up a little bit if we didn't want to burn out.

Of course Tai wouldn't want to stop doing any of the number of things we were doing himself. He might try and give the rest of us a break, but I can guarantee he wouldn't even think about taking one himself. That was just the way Tai was, when things were important to him he had to do everything he could to accomplish it. His passion for the things he loved was one of the things I loved most about him, even if it did make me worry about him more than I really wanted to think about.

Now, as to why I was walking up to school all on my own. I had to go in early to work on a science project, since the only time that my other group members and I could work on it was before school. I knew for a fact that it would be impossible to wake Tai up earlier than usual, since it was already hard enough to wake him up on time, so I came by myself.

So the early morning time ended up being fairly uneventful as we wrapped up the project. I didn't really know any of the other people in the science class as it was an elective that mostly sophomores took, I was in it just because I didn't want to get stuck in the fashion design class that was the only other option, I can't even imagine ever taking a fashion class, let alone one where I was supposed to design some clothes, that was much more something that Mimi would enjoy.

My first class that morning was the same political science class where I had snapped at Tai the very first day of school. I think Tai was actually starting to enjoy the class, at least as much as he enjoyed any of the classes here at Odaiba High. I think he may even have started reading the book at home, when he didn't need to, though he may have just been using it to cover his eyes while he slept now that I thought about it.

I walked into the classroom for my first surprise of the day, which was Tai sitting in the classroom, his book out, and actually reading said book. I guess you could call this a double surprise, since Tai was not only here early, he was the first one in the classroom, but he was reading the class's book. That was probably the biggest surprise, him reading the book that is. Tai never, ever read for class, ever.

I stopped in the doorway for several seconds just staring at him, too surprised to move. When I finally got over the shock, I noticed that Tai was still completely engrossed in the book, a perfect opportunity for me. I walked as quietly as I could up to him, trying to stay out of his line of view the whole time. I was just a few feet away from him when…

"You know, it's really not like you to try and sneak up on my, at least not for a while now." Tai said as I was about to scare the crap out of him. His sudden talking, coupled with the fact that he hadn't turned towards me ended up with me jumping in the air a little. Tai finally looked up at me with his lopsided grin on his face, and I just glared at him.

_How did he know?_ I thought to myself.

"You're not as quiet as you think." Tai replied, almost reading my thoughts. He patted the desk next to him after saying that.

I just shook my head, my glare melting away as Tai continued to smile at me. I took the seat he had gestured to, and looked over his shoulder at the book. I was half expecting to see a comic or a picture book inside the pages of the book, but there was nothing there.

"You're actually reading the book?" I asked, not able to mask my surprise in the least.

"What? Am I not allowed to?" Tai asked with an innocent look.

"You know what I mean." I replied with an exasperated voice.

"Nope, I have no idea what you're talking about." Tai replied, a smirk back on his face.

_So he wants to be that way? _I thought to myself. _Ok then, he deserves this._

"Tai, you never read, I don't even think you remember how." I replied with my own grin.

"Hey I know how to read!" Tai replied indignantly, though the smile still on his face gave away the fact that he knew I was joking. "Really!"

I just gave Tai a serious look for a minute, and then burst out laughing. Tai just shook his head at me.

"You need to work on your jokes." He said simply, "First trying to sneak up on me, and then trying to say I don't know how to read…"

I gave him a playful hit on his arm, the now fully healed arm that used to be in a cast.

"Stupid Tai."

"What did I do to deserve that?" He replied, rubbing his arm.

"I'm sure you've done something to deserve that since the last time I hit you." I replied, and Tai gave me a pouty face.

"Really?" He asked with the same face and I just nodded. He continued to give me the pouty face, and I started to feel a little sorry for him. I just couldn't help it with Tai. Yes we had our ups and downs in our relationship, but there was no denying that we were even closer, and cared for each other even more, than when we were just friends. Looking back I know I would have thought that impossible, but it was completely true.

To be honest I think it was more the fact that we were just more open with each other rather than a newly discovered caring for each other. I can't speak for Tai, but at times I had had to restrain my own enthusiasm during our friendship, at least after I realized that I liked my best friend.

"I think you should kiss it to make it better." Tai said, interrupting my thoughts. I looked at him, and then shrugged.

"Where does it hurt the most?" I asked, and when he started grinning, I knew exactly what he was going to say.

"My lips." He replied, his grin on his face once more. I shrugged again, this time with a smile on my face as I leaned in to kiss him…

"So this is what you two do when you come to school early?" A voice asked from behind us, and I cursed whoever it was, ruining a perfectly good, private moment like that.

"Oh go away Kazuki, we were having a private moment." Tai said with a sigh.

"But it's so much more fun to bother the two of you." Kazuki replied with a smile. I knew Kazuki at least as well as Tai, since we had met him at the same time, back right after my family and Tai's had moved to Odaiba. It was one of our first days, and we were trying to find some people to play soccer with. The first group hadn't liked the fact that I was a girl, so we'd left, eventually finding Kazuki and some of his friends, who allowed us to play soccer with them. All of us had been friends since then.

Tai sighed at Kazuki's comment and turned all the way around.

"What are you doing here this early anyways?" Tai asked after a second.

"Well, Zoe wanted to come in early for some reason." Kazuki replied, referring to his sister by her nickname.

"That's weird, Davis dragged me here for almost no reason to…" Tai replied to Kazuki, and I had to restrain a giggle that instantly wanted to bubble out of my mouth. Tai knew exactly what to say to get Kazuki to leave.

It almost looked like Kazuki was going to have a vein burst on his forehead, and I could see him clenching a fist.

"I'm going to kill both of them." He said, before turning and taking off out of the room.

Kazuki was almost as protective of his sister as Tai was of Kari (I'm pretty sure T.K. would be a dead man if Tai didn't know him as well as he did, and exactly how much he cared for her). At first he had blamed just Davis, but that had spread to both of them when it became apparent that _**Zoe**_ was the one who was the most responsible for the things that Kazuki disliked. After that he'd conceded a little bit to that fact, and blamed both of them.

"Good thinking." I told Tai after Kazuki was safely out of the room.

"It was only the truth." Tai replied with a shrug. "Davis woke me up and dragged me here this early. I was wondering why, but I guess that answers that question."

I laughed again at that question. Davis's antics got more insane, and therefore amusing, every week. I was about to say something else when a group of people poured into the class room. It looked like the buses had arrived, which meant that school wasn't that far off.

That pretty much ended our private time as a group of our friends headed right over to us. I hated to admit it, but both Tai and I were pretty popular at the school. The captains of our respective, and very successful, sports teams led to a large degree of popularity, not to mention being the best friends of THE Matt Ishida, oh yea, and that whole being digidestined and having saved the world a time or two didn't hurt.

Of course, neither of us liked being popular that much. Tai could really enjoy the spot light at times, but not all of the time, and me, well I didn't like it at all. It was worse than dealing with all of Matt's fan girls when I'd been dating him. People you didn't even know trying to be your friend for no reason other than they thought you were popular got annoying after a while, especially when they never left us alone, like now.

I did my best to be polite, but I was definitely relived when the teacher got everyone to quiet down, and started class. That's how the morning went generally went. I was only a little surprised when Tai took a leading role in our discussion in Political Science. After seeing him reading that book I was more than suspicious of him, which was more than justified when he actually took part in the discussion. The look on everyone else's faces was priceless as Tai not only talked about Political Science, but knew what he was talking about.

After that, there was little off of our normal day in school, and before I knew it I was heading towards the cafeteria, Matt following close behind me. My last class of the morning was with the blond haired boy, so we always walked to lunch together. We were one of the last to arrive at our lunch table, arriving behind even the crutch assisted Tai and Izzy. I sat down next to Tai while Matt went to sit next to his girlfriend, Momoko.

To be honest I didn't like Momoko. She wasn't quite as obsessive or clingy as Jun Motomiya had been, but it was a close thing. And then there was her attitude. If any one of use tried to talk to Matt while she was around, she'd give whoever that was a death stare. It got real annoying after a short amount of time, but Matt seemed to like her, so the rest of us put up with her for his sake.

Looking around the rest of the table I looked to see who was still missing. Yolei was talking with Izzy and Ken, most likely about their upcoming computer club meeting, while T.K. and Kari were talking about something. It looked like the only two missing were Davis and Zoe, which meant that they were either avoiding Kazuki, or somewhere making out.

Seconds later the two almost magically appeared across from Tai and I, looking out of breath.

"Finally lost him?" Tai asked with a smirk as he slid a tray of food towards Davis.

"He's getting more persistent." Davis replied with a breath between each word. "We can't even walk down the hallway together without him trying to get us apart."

Tai snorted with laughter at this, and I rolled my eyes, before hitting his arm again.

"Ouch! What was that for?" He asked, rubbing the spot where I had hit him.

"Feel a little sorry for your friend." I told him. "How would you feel if one of the guys from your soccer team was dating Kari instead of T.K.?"

Tai looked at me, and then down towards Kari, who had looked towards us at the mention of her name, finally he looked at Davis.

"Ok, point taken." Tai conceded after a minute, and I shook my head. Then Tai snapped a finger, as if he had a sudden idea. "Davis, why don't you just go ask Kazuki if it's ok if you date his sister."

"Because he doesn't need to." Zoe replied after a second, "I'm a big girl and I can date who I want." Tai just shrugged at her after she said that.

"I know you don't like that, but it might get him to back off, after all the two of you didn't bother to break it to him gently." Tai replied, which earned a giggle from me, and Kari, in addition to a guffaw from T.K.

The couple just looked at the four of us, and shrugged in unison. I liked Zoe a lot more than I liked Momoko. She'd seemed very similar to Momoko at first, seemingly channeling Davis's sister as well, but she'd actually chilled out after a few days. She was still obsessed with Davis in a way, but I think that was actually good for Davis. He was an intense person, and did things intensely especially when there was a girl that he liked involved. That's one of the reasons that he had always been so open and forward with his crush on Kari. He was the same way with Zoe, at least after he realized that he liked her, and she was the same right back. They were identical in that way, along with the genuine affection the two had for each other.

It reminded me of this book my mother had once told me about. It was about love languages, and how apparently every person has a specific way that they show affection or love, and it's usually the way that they want to be loved back. If this book was right about anything it obviously showed why Davis and Zoe got along well. The blond haired Zoe acted just as intensely as Davis did in their relationship, and the two of them only seemed to enjoy it.

After that lunch passed relatively quickly, and with it the rest of the day. The last couple of classes seemed to fly by, just like the morning had. Something about today just seemed to make it go by faster than normal, as I arrived at Tennis practice far earlier than I expected to. Practice didn't slow down either and a seemingly short time after lunch I was once more sitting with all of the digidestined, this time in the computer lab. Joe and Cody had joined us in addition to bringing all of our digimon to the school, while Momoko and Zoe were not with us, since they couldn't come to the digital world, not being digidestined and all.

"Wow, today just flew by." Tai said, leaning back in his chair next to me while we waited for Izzy to start things up on the computer.

"I know exactly what you mean." I replied, sitting next to him. Despite how fast the day had gone I was still exhausted from it, and all of the days before it.

"Ok, everything's ready." Izzy declared, and I wearily stood up, helping Tai up off of his chair. He had healed even more over the last few weeks, but still needed his crutches to walk, and we didn't want to bring those to the digital world. "Who wants to do the honors?"

"I've got it." Davis replied after a second, just as he lifted his digivice towards the computer. I brought mine up, as did everyone else. "Digiport open!"

~Digital World~

I got lucky this time. I landed near the top of the pile, and was able to quickly extract myself from it. It seemed it was Matt's turn for the bottom as he was the one there when everyone had finally extracted themselves from it.

"Wow, it's so much more fun not being in that pile!" A voice exclaimed a little ways away from us, and I turned quickly to see Mimi standing there smiling at all of us.

"Mimi!" I shout in excitement, running over to her.

"Sora!" She shouts back, and the two of us proceed to talk rapid fire to each other. Yolei joined us after a second and I knew exactly what Tai was probably thinking as our conversation became too fast to handle. I couldn't help it in this case.

We'd been able to see Mimi nearly every day up until our little trip three weeks before, but after that trip she hadn't been able to make it to the digital world at all. For her, joining us in our afternoon jaunts meant waking up late at night, and losing four or so hours of sleep. She'd been fine at first, but it had finally caught up with her, and she'd had to stop joining us for a while, so it really was a little reunion for us.

By the time we finished catching up, a part of the rest of the digidestined had already split off from our group, leaving only Tai, Ken, and Davis.

"Well if you three are all finished, there's a village this way." Tai said, gesturing towards a small path into the woods.

"Nice to see you too Tai." Mimi replied, feigning being upset. Tai just smirked, knowing that tone form Mimi. Davis and Ken unfortunately didn't seem to recognize Mimi's joke, and both looked back and forth between her and Tai. Then Mimi smiled and started laughing as the two younger boys looked confused.

Mimi decided to take the lead, heading right into the woods, followed closely by Yolei and the confused Davis and Ken. I walked back with Tai, and the two of us held hands as we walked through the woods. It was a pleasant walk for once as this area seemed to have been spared the damage that had been visited upon so many other parts of the digital world.

"This place is nice." I said as we continued through the woods.

"Mhmm." Tai replied, also looking around the woods. Then my Tag started to glow, causing both of us to stop in place.

"Is that doing what I think it is?" Tai asked, gesturing towards my Crest, which was faintly pulsing red. I simply nodded holding it up, and spinning in a circle, trying to figure out which direction would lead us towards my Crest.

"SORA! TAI!" I stopped turning to look back towards where we had been walking not a few seconds before. The rest of our group was heading right towards us, Mimi holding up her faintly green glowing tag. Tai waved to them as they saw us, and then our small group reunited.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" Mimi asked as she stood next to me and both of our tags were glowing.

"Yea, this should mean that your Crests are really close." Ken answered Mimi immediately.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Mimi replied to that, and I nodded. It only took us a few seconds to figure out which direction it was to our Crests and we took off, Mimi and I in the lead of our group, along with Biyomon and Palmon.

To say I was excited would be an understatement to the extreme. I was finally getting my Crest back. Finally Biyomon and I would be able to help in the battles rather than just being in the way. Now we could help protect the others rather than just taking up space.

I'm sure Tai and the others would never say that we did that, but I still felt that was all that we did during the battles we'd had the last month or so. With Biyomon only able to reach the champion level we'd had to sit back and do little more than not get in the way while the others fought. Now, I don't exactly like fighting or battles or anything like that, but I really hated being useless like that. To have to sit back and watch your loved ones get between you and danger got frustrating after a while. Of course that was almost exactly what I did when Biyomon went into battle, but at least I could help her out by assisting her in digivolving.

Not anymore after today hopefully.

A few minutes later the forest seemed to thin out a little bit and suddenly a clearing came into view in front of us. Mimi and I stopped only a few feet into the clearing as we took in the sight in front of us. The clearing was covered in snow believe it or not, and more snow was still coming down, but only in the clearing. Centered in the clearing was a large temple, just like the others had described at the other locations.

"Hey what did you to stop for?" Davis asked from just behind us, just before he tried to walk into the clearing, only instead of walking into the clearing he seemed to hit something, shouting out in pain and falling on his butt.

"What was that?" He asked, rubbing his face as he looked up.

"Davis," Tai started to say, "Did you walk into another tre…" Then he too hit whatever it was that Davis had hit, and was on the ground next to him. Everyone stopped, and then Veemon decided to poke where they had hit something.

"Wow! There's an invisible wall here!" Veemon exclaimed, and I was confused. How could there be a wall there if Mimi and I had just passed through it.

"An invisible wall…" Tai said, looking up.

"I think I have a better explanation." Ken said helping Davis and Tai up. "Izzy and I believe that each of the Temples that contain the Crests is protected by a barrier that only the Bearers of that Temple's Crests can cross."

"So that's why they only wanted me and Matt last time." Tai said, and Ken nodded.

"Exactly Tai. That also means we have to wait here while Mimi and Sora go get their Crests." Ken said nodding at Tai.

"Ok." Tai said, and then nodded towards the two of us. "You two be careful."

I smile at Tai to reassure him, and then the two of us head towards the large temple. As we got closer to it, I started to realize that it really was an enormous structure. It certainly wasn't the largest building that I'd ever seen, but was certainly the largest temple I had ever seen.

"Wow, it's like a ghost town out here." Mimi said as we finally reached the doors. "Where is everyone?"

I looked around before answering my friend. There was nothing around this Temple, none of the Deva guards that had been at the other Temples, and no other digimon.

"I don't know Mimi," I replied.

"Maybe they're on a lunch break?" Palmon offered up and I shook my head. For some reason I doubted that the digimon here needed to go on a lunch break.

"Maybe the Deva got the day off?" Biyomon offered, and I just shrugged. Something seemed different about this place compared to how T.K., Kari, Tai, and Matt had all described the Temples they had visited. This one not only seemed deserted, but down trodden as well.

"It looks like they were never even here." I said as we kept moving through the now eerie seeming Temple. Towards the center of the structure was a covered structure that seemed a little run down, like everything else. What drew me towards it was the fact that the pair of pedestals in the center of it had the Crests of Love and Sincerity emblazoned on them.

"Look Mimi." I said, pointing towards the area, and she turns away from the walls she had been looking at to where I was pointing. She then looks at me and smiles, just before taking off towards them.

"Hey!" I shout after her, and then take off after her. Mimi usually wasn't one to do something like this, but I do have to admit it was fun racing for our Crests. We arrived almost at the same moment, and stood catching our breath just next to the little structure.

When we'd finally caught our breath we walked up to the pedestals, and as I walked up to mine I could see the tablet that was my Crest sitting on top of it. The Crest started to glow as I approached, and then took off into the air, sliding easily into my tag. I glanced over at Mimi after my Crest had finished and watched her Crest do the same thing.

We smiled at each other, and then turned and got out of there. It was good to have my Crest back, but that Temple was creepy all deserted like that. I need to not tell Tai that we scampered out of there scared, otherwise I'll never hear the end of it.

It didn't take us long to get back to where the others were waiting for us, and that's when the forest seemed to reappear. Right before we crossed the invisible barrier, which Davis seemed to be leaning against while they waited for us, the wintery area that we were in turned back into more forest as if the Temple had never been there at all.

"AHHH!" I turned back from looking at the forest to where Davis was waving his arms trying to keep his balance as the barrier he had been leaning against disappeared. He failed miserably and landed once more on his butt. There was silence for about three seconds, and then all of us doubled over with laughter.

This lasted for a good minute or two before some of us managed to get control of ourselves. Yolei was the last one, yet again seeming to take a special pleasure from Davis's action.

Tai come up and gave me a hug as we walked the rest of the way to the group.

"So you found your Crest I'm assuming?" Tai asked as he released me.

"Both of us did." I replied. "But this Temple wasn't like the ones you described, it was run down, and there weren't any guards."

Tai looked thoughtful, and nodded.

"That's weird. I wonder why this one was different from the last one?" He asked no one in particular.

"Who knows." Davis said, having finally gotten to his feet. "But Tai, don't you think we should get going to meet up with Izzy?"

"Meet up with Izzy?" I asked confused. We were supposed to be heading to a village to help them evacuate since we believed they would be attacked soon.

"Yea, apparently his computer spit out the final Temple's location, so we're all heading there to meet up." Tai replied, a grin on his face.

I couldn't help but return it. If that was true we were about to be back at full strength, and we could finally take the fight to Piedmon.

_Well, not much action, or any at all, in that chapter, but things are moving on, and should be coming to a head very soon, after all they'll be at full strength and able to defeat Piedmon soon, right?_

_**Preview:**_

**"_AHH!" T.K. suddenly shouted, and I looked up from my observations to see him falling backwards as the barrier disappeared, just like I had._ **

**"_T.K.!" Kari exclaimed as the young blond fell backwards._**

**_ Other than that, and once we all saw that he wasn't hurt, everyone else just laughed at him._ **

**_A few seconds later and Izzy, Joe, Gomamon, and Tentomon all came out of the thick woods ahead of us, heading right for us._ **

**"_Alright, that's all the Crests!" Tai exclaimed as Izzy and Joe showed off their newly acquired Crests._**

_Review Replies:_

_crestoflight3: Thanks! Hope it didn't disappoint, and thanks! That's really the feel that I'm going for , so I'm glad it's working! And yea, Gomamon is a favorite, and would try to do something like that lol._

_Appealtoreason: Thanks! And yea, no one really said he'd get to use his Crest right afterwards, since they haven't really had a battle since he got his Crest yet lol. And thanks for the faith!_

_Supershooter : Thanks! I rather liked the Garden myself, and I wanted to showcase a different Zhuqiaomon, since most stories portray him as a human hating digimon (like in tamers), I wanted him to be the humans biggest friend. And yea, I know it wasn't a great chapter, but it was very necessary, and I tried to make it interesting._

_TaioraWarrior: Yea, he's a good guy, at least in this story. And yea Gomamon is awesome lol. And good luck with your computer!_

_Lachelle92: Thanks!_


	14. The Final Temple

_Ok, sorry about the format mess up, apparently really wanted me to have one giant paragrage. It's fixed now, so enjoy. (and thanks TaioraWarrior for being the first to point that out!)_

_Well hello folks, time for another update, since it's Sunday and all, so here you go! Enjoy!_

_**Last Time: **__A normal day for the digidestined turned into something more exciting as Sora and Mimi stumbled upon the Temple of the West, which held their Crests. They went to retrieve them, only to find a completely deserted structure, in contrast to the well-kept and guarded structures all the others had found. This startling difference was over looked as Izzy sent word that they had discovered another Temple._

_Also, this week we have the result of the reader poll for a new perspective, so enjoy the new perspective!_

_**Disclaimer**: I don't own digimon. Like seriously, I can't magically get rich and buy the franchise during the course of writing this fic, so I don't see why you expect this to change…_

**Chapter 14 The Final Temple**

_Izzy_

Everyone has different ways of waiting for anything. Take Matt for example. He was pacing around just beside the digiport television while we waited for Tai and the others in his group to arrive at our location. Cody had a large stick out and he was practicing Kendo. Kari and T.K. were talking quietly by a tree, while Joe was resting by all of the digimon.

For me, I preferred to do something a bit more productive while we waited for Tai's group. I had my laptop up and I was attempting to refine the search program that Gennai had given to me. That actually wasn't the only thing I was doing at that moment, since I was also preparing to reset the digiport to put us closer to our destination.

The search program was one of the most frustrating programs I'd ever encountered. The way that the program ran was still eluding me, despite the weeks that I had spent trying to crack it. I literally could only input search parameters and then let the program run its course. No program had ever managed to keep me from cracking it for this long, and it was frustrating.

"Where are they?" Matt asked no one in particular.

"Ken said that they'd stumbled upon another Temple, and that Mimi and Sora were getting their Crests." I answered without looking up from the computer. "Chances are they couldn't let the two of them know to hurry up so they're waiting on them."

"But they should be here by now." Matt replied to me, and I sighed, closing my computer. I still couldn't get any more information out of the program, and it was about to be a moot point, at least after we found Joe and I's Crests.

"Matt, you're starting to channel Tai and Davis." I told the blond, and I could see his eyes start to bulge. "You just need to have a little patience. They'll be here in a minute."

I had to laugh as not even a second later the digiport lit up and deposited the other six digidestined and their digimon in a pile in front of Matt and I.

"See?" I asked and Matt just grunted.

I went over to help some of the others out of the pile. I ended up helping Veemon and Palmon out of the pile as the others all managed to sort themselves out. Tai was the one stuck at the bottom of the pile this time, and as Matt and I helped him to his feet, he turned to me.

"Izzy, you've really got to figure out a better way for us to use these things. Those piles are starting to get annoying." Tai told me, and I nodded.

"I know Tai, but the digiports aren't the easiest thing to reconfigure." I replied. Tai, and everyone else for that matter, said that every time we used the digiports, and for some reason always expect me to have somehow changed things already.

"I know Izzy, just keep trying." Tai replied before starting to get everyone together. I opened my laptop back up as Tai finished getting everyone together. "Ok Izzy, what have you got for us?"

"Well, while we were helping out at the village not too far from here, Gennai's program found the location of the next Temple, which we now know is the last one that we have to find." I replied after a few seconds. "The Temple of the North where the Crests of Knowledge and Reliability should be held."

I turned the screen of my laptop around so that everyone could see the blinking red marker in the northern portion of the digital world.

"So once we get the Crests from this place all of the original digidestined will be back to full strength?" Davis asked, and I nodded. Despite the fact that Davis could be thick headed, and if I'm being honest a little slow, he had improved drastically since becoming a digidestined. His obvious statements were almost a routine summing up of everything I'd just said, which could be useful.

"Yes Davis. We'll be at full strength at that point." I replied in addition to my nod.

"And we can finally go take care of that creep, Piedmon." Matt said, and Tai nodded from next to him.

I wasn't quite as certain though. I thought that we were on the right track with recovering the Crests, but I couldn't help but feel that it wouldn't be enough. We'd had our Crests the first time we fought him, and now he was back. We'd have to do something different if we wanted to be rid of Piedmon for good. The only thing was, I didn't know what that thing was.

"Ok Izzy, where do we go from here?" Tai asked me after the noise that Matt's statement had caused quieted down.

"Back through the digiport to one closer to the Temple." I replied, gesturing to the digiport in question. "I've already got it retargeted to get us to the right one." "Well, what are we waiting for?" Davis asked as everyone walked over to the digiports, and held out their digivices. "Digiport open!"

~Elsewhere~

Tai really was right. I needed to figure out a way for less pile filled landings when emerging from the digiports. At least that's the way things seemed as I was at the bottom of the pile this time. Things weren't really that bad, since everyone was in a hurry to get off of the pile, and Tentomon was certainly concerned if I was ok, but nothing was broken. It's simply amazing how twenty-three people and digimon landing pretty much on top of you could be so painless, relatively at least.

By the time I was free of the pile Tai, Matt, and Davis were looking around trying to figure out where we should head to find the Temple. I had my own theories based on the data we'd gotten when finding the other Temples.

They always seemed to be the same cardinal direction from the center of the area they should be in as the sector they represented. For example the Temple of the East was east of the center of the area that Gennai's program said it should be in. So if my theory was correct, the Temple should be due south of where we were, since the digiport was north of the area indicated by the program. Of course Tai, Matt, and Davis were all pointing in different directions, all of which happened to be away from where we needed to go. 

_Oh well, they'll ask me in a minute or so…_I thought to myself as I settled in to watch the "leaders" argue. Ken came over towards me a minute or so later.

"Izzy, I think I may have figured out a pattern for the location of these Temples." Ken said in a quiet voice as he stood next to me.

"You mean the fact that they're always the same cardinal direction from the center of where the locator puts us as the sector we're in?" I asked and Ken nodded.

"Are you going to tell them?" He asked, and I shrugged.

"I learned a long time ago that trying to tell Tai how to go about things almost never works. I've got to let him ask me where to go, and then draw the proper conclusion from what I tell him." I reply, and shrug. "I've gotten used to it, and Tai honestly is better at making decisions than I am. I can supply information and some guidance, but he has a special knack for making the right decision." Ken nodded.

"That makes sense. And Tai actually will listen to your advice, most of the time, unlike Davis."

"Well, we've had a lot of time to build trust in one another." I replied, and then noticed Tai heading over towards us.

"Izzy, do we have any idea about where this Temple is?" He asked as he got closer. Davis and Matt were both following behind him.

I was actually more and more impressed with Tai's leadership abilities the longer this situation with Piedmon went on. Tai always had been, and most likely always would be, very impulsive, and his first instinct would most likely always be to dive headfirst into each and every situation he encountered. That being said he understood this fact, and tried to level that out more than he used to. Consulting with me for more things than just information was one thing. Another was always listening to what Matt had to say, rather than instantly dismissing his ideas and starting a fist fight. That's not to say he actually followed Matt's ideas, he hadn't grown that much, but he at least listened to them this time around.

Also the fact that he was able to work with Matt, his opposite in many ways despite the fact that they were best friends, and Davis, who was a younger, and much less mature version of Tai, spoke volumes of his skills in getting people to work together.

"I'd estimate that it is straight to the south of us." I replied after everyone had arrived where we were.

"Alright! I was right!" Davis exclaimed as I said that, also pointing in the direction that he had been wanting to go in, otherwise known as east.

"Davis, that's east." I said, and Davis instantly turned towards the north.

"I meant that way." Davis said, and I just sighed.

"This way Davis." I pointed south, and Davis just chuckled once more.

"See, I was just testing all of you. Good job Izzy! You passed." Davis said, and Tai laughed as I shook my head.

We all moved out after that, Joe and I leading the way with our Tags out.

The only way we could find the Temple was with the Tags around Joe and I's necks. The way that the other Temples had been set up told us that they were carefully hidden, and next to impossible to find even for the few people who could access them, therefore we needed the people with the Tags up at the front leading.

Of course if we ran into any of Piedmon's evil digimon, which past experiences told me was a high probability, the very fact that the two of us in the front were the ones looking for our Crests meant that our digimon couldn't reach a high enough level to be a threat to Doumon and Astamon.

There were a dozen other possible situations, both in favor of Joe and I leading and for us not leading, but the fact of the matter is, Tai made the decision that Joe and I should be in the front, and that was the final decision. I still remembered when we were trying to follow Myotismon back to the real world, and how we all decided that Tai should be the official leader. I still stuck by that decision in all matters because it was the right decision then and it still was now.

"Izzy!" I heard Joe exclaim, cutting into my thoughts. I looked over at Joe and I instantly noticed that his Tag was faintly glowing a grey color, the same color that his Crest was. I quickly looked down at my own Tag and saw that it was glowing the purple of my own Crest, the Crest of Knowledge.

"We must be close." I replied, holding my Tag up. The others behind us must have noticed the same thing as the chatter that had filled the air among the others behind us was gone.

Joe and I spun around a little, attempting to find the exact direction that had the strongest response for our Crests. Another few seconds of spinning and we found the proper direction, slightly to the east of the direction that we had been going.

I take off straight in that direction, eager to reach our destination, and Joe jumped forward to keep up with my suddenly increased pace. Tentomon has no trouble keeping up, the benefit of the wings on his back, while Gomamon is complaining as he tries to keep up with us.

The glow of the Tags gets brighter and brighter as we near the source of their signaling. Not five minutes after we picked up the signal I hear a shout behind us. I turn around quickly, expecting to see the others under attack, but instead Davis and Veemon are holding their noses, like they'd just run into a wall.

"Ah! Not again!" Davis cried out as he rubbed his nose. I took a couple of steps closer as Matt walked towards us.

"Davis, did you run into a tree again?" He asked as he and Gabumon approached.

"No wait Matt!" Davis exclaimed as Matt walked a few steps past Davis towards Joe and I. About two feet in front of Davis Matt seems to walk right into a wall, falling backwards and grabbing his face as well.

"I tried to warn you…" Davis says as Matt turns to glare at him. Gabumon had stayed a few steps behind Matt and avoided the contact. By this time all the others had arrived as well, and were standing behind Davis.

"What is this…" I wonder to no one in particular. I get to the edge of the location where Matt had hit himself, and extend my hand forward, though it just moves through air. "Davis, reach for my hand." I ask the younger boy.

He looks at me, shrugs and reaches for me, only for his hand to hit something solid where my hand had passed through air.

"Prodigious. It seems only the protectors of each Temple really can enter it." I say in wonder.

"Ok Izzy, now you and Joe go grab your Crests. I've got a bad feeling about this forest." Tai said from where he was standing with the others. I nod and turn back to Joe.

"Ready to get our Crests back?" I ask, and of course Gomamon answers for the rest of us.

"Yea! Let's go already!"

The four of us headed through the rapidly thinning forest at a fast walk, or slow fly for Tentomon. It didn't take us long to find the structure that was obviously the Temple. It was massive, with a stone curtain wall surrounding it to keep out intruders.

A quick search revealed the massive Gate, facing towards the south, which was the perfect entrance to the structure. As we entered I started to notice how run down the structure was.

Tai, Matt, T.K., and Kari had all said that the Temples they had visited had been well kept, pristine even, yet here the entire place looked like it was about to fall apart. What was the difference? Why weren't they the same?

Tai had said that Zhuqiaomon and Azulongmon were the two Harmonious Ones who were the biggest supporters of us digidestined, while the other two Baihumon and Ebonwumon weren't as supportive. Since this was Ebonwumon's Temple could he have let it fall into disarray?

_No, this is one of his domains, not really a special human only place; he wouldn't have let it deteriorate this way._

"Izzy, look!" Joe snapped me out of my thoughts with a quick shout. I looked forward to where he was pointing and beheld a pair of pedestals, one with the Crest of Knowledge on it, the other the Crest of Reliability.

We all rush towards the pedestals, and as we get closer I notice that my Tag is now glowing a solid purple, with a returning purple glow from the pedestal with the Crest of Knowledge on it. As I get closer I can see the source of the light, the tablet of my Crest floating a few inches above the pedestal. As I get closer that tablet floats right over to me, and inserts itself right into my Tag, recombining my Crest into its full physical manifestation.

_Davis_

I stayed well away from the barrier protecting the Temple thing where Izzy and Joe were getting their Crests.

I'm not the smartest person around, that would be Ken, but I was more than smart enough to stay away from the barrier. I'd already ran into them twice, and I didn't want it to collapse onto me a second time.

The others from my group, and Matt, who'd already ran into the barrier once before ironically just like Tai had with the first barrier, were all staying well back, while Kari, T.K., and Cody were all fascinated by it.

Cody swung a large stick that he had on him through the open air where the barrier was, and the stick just sliced air, while a second later he placed his hand forward and was stopped by the barrier once more. I'd watched Ken perform the same types of experiments on the barrier back where Mimi and Sora had gotten their Crests, so I lost interest in that pretty quickly.

Instead I decided to take out my Crest and look at it once more. I'd started studying my Crest more and more as I saw what the older digidestined could do with their Crests, especially Matt and Tai.

I'd thought that WarGreymon had been nearly unstoppable before, but with MetalGarurumon fighting alongside him it was impossible to see how anything could beat the two of them. They worked perfectly together, and had a coordination that put all the rest of our digimon to shame. Of course, they'd also had more time, and battles for that matter, in which to learn that teamwork, but it was still an awe inspiring sight, and one that made me think. What would Veemon digivolve into?

Would my Crest simply digivolve him to the Ultimate Level like Ken's did with Stingmon, or would he become a powerful Mega level digimon just like WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon? I didn't know if I'd ever find out. We still didn't know what my Crest was, so I had no idea how to trigger it. And despite that fact, there was something familiar about the Crest itself, like I'd seen it before, but I couldn't remember where.

"AHH!" T.K. suddenly shouted, and I looked up from my observations to see him falling backwards as the barrier disappeared, just like I had.

"T.K.!" Kari exclaimed as the young blond fell backwards. Other than that, and once we all saw that he wasn't hurt, everyone else just laughed at him.

A few seconds later Izzy, Joe, Gomamon, and Tentomon all came out of the thick woods ahead of us, heading right for us.

"Alright, that's all the Crests!" Tai exclaimed as Izzy and Joe showed off their newly acquired Crests.

"Yea!" I shouted, just to join in the general shouts of happiness that sprang from pretty much everyone.

"Now we can finish taking care of Piedmon." Matt said with a deep sound of satisfaction in his voice.

A few minutes later and all of us were heading back towards the digiport. We'd decided that we'd go and see Gennai the next day and try to find out how to find or at least corner Piedmon so we could finish off the clown. I was walking towards the front of the group, with Izzy, Tai, and Sora. Everyone else was staying pretty close together while Matt and Gabumon brought up the rear.

"Tai, there was something off about this Temple. The whole place was run down." Izzy told Tai as he recounted what had happened on the other side of the barrier.

"The same thing with the Temple that Mimi and I found." Sora chimed in. I didn't really see what the big deal was, I mean, who cared if they cleaned the place every week or not?

"That's odd, I wonder why they were like that?" Tai asked, and it seemed his question was destined to be answered.

"I have a story for that." One of the sickest voices I had ever heard said from the trees above us. I was instantly on my guard, as were all the original digidestined. Ken, Yolei, and Cody looked more confused. "Once upon a time there were four Harmonious Ones." The voice continued, and I could have sworn it was getting closer. "They hatched a plan to stop Piedmon using the digidestined." A shape started to take form in front of us, almost man shaped. "They all met to talk about this plan, but Piedmon decided to crash their party, and imprisoned them for all eternity!" The last part was half shouted, half manically laughed, and then the shape finally revealed itself.

The thing in front of us vaguely resembled a clown of sorts, but the fact that it was floating towards us instantly gave away the fact that it was a digimon. It had a red shirt, and green pants, all clown like, along with big yellow boots. On its back were four swords, and covering its face was a clown mask.

"Your stories still haven't gotten any better after five years Piedmon." Tai declared, much more calmly than I felt, and I'm pretty sure more calmly than he felt.

"Try this one, Once upon a time there were the digidestined. They tried to stop Piedmon, and all died in the process!" Piedmon said once more with the laugh.

"That didn't happen last time, it's not going to happen this time." Tai declared. "Agumon!"

A blast of intense orange light emanated from Tai as he shouted his partners name.

"Gabumon!" Matt shouted as well, just before an equally intense blue light emanated from him.

"Agumon!"

"Gabumon!"

"Warp Digivolve to!"

The powerful WarGreymon appeared where Agumon had been standing just seconds before, Dramon Destroyers out and ready to skewer a clown, or so it looked. "WarGreymon!"

Just next to him Gabumon finished his digivolution, and emerged a much larger and more wolf like digimon, covered in tough metallic armor with dozens of gunports ready to be used against his enemies. A pair of jet powered wings emerged from his back, and a bladed tail at his end. "MetalGarurumon!"

The two Mega's took station between the rest of us, while all the other original digidestined digimon, and Wormmon, jumped forward, becoming swallowed by the light coming off of their partners.

"Patamon digivolve to! Angemon! Angemon digivolve to! MagnaAngemon!"

"Gatomon digivolve to! Angewomon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to! Stingmon! Stingmon digivolve to! JewelBeemon!"

"Palmon digivolve to! Togemon! Togemon digivolve to!" Togemon seemed to come apart as she shrunk in size to a digimon not much larger than I am. She was covered in pink petals, with a pair of fairy like wings on her back, and a large pedal on her head. "Lillymon!"

"Biyomon digivolve to! Birdramon! Birdramon digivolve to!" Birdramon also changed shape completely, and grew in size. She went from being a medium sized bird like digimon into a more human like shape, with wings, and talons on her feet and hands. Her face was covered by a decorated mask. "Garudamon!"

"Gomamon digivolve to! Ikkakumon! Ikkakumon digivolve to!" Ikkakumon seemed to shred all of his hair as a giant shell appeared on his back, larger tusks in his mouth, and a much larger, not to mention more jagged, horn on his head. A mane of red hair streamed back from his head, and a large hammer appeared in his hands. "Zudomon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to! Kabuterimon! Kabuterimon digivolve to!" Kabuterimon sprouted a massive shell on his back, which was a red color, and the horn on his head grew larger, just like the rest of him. "MegaKabuterimon!"

The two Megas and seven Ultimates face Piedmon who simply laughed at the sight.

"What makes you think you can stop me?" He asked with a laugh, which just seemed to piss off WarGreymon.

"How about this!" He shouted jumping into the air and preparing an attack.

"Hellfire!" Dozens of bullets flew at WarGreymon who had just enough time to bring his shield around to block them. Unfortunately that left him completely open to the next attack. "Maverick!" Astamon hit WarGreymon with one of his powerful kicks, sending him falling to the ground.

"WarGreymon!" Tai and MetalGarurumon shouted at the same time. MetalGarurumon jumped into the air, intent on helping WarGreymon, but was also rudely interrupted.

"Demonic Gate!" A massive blast of energy flew right at MetalGarurumon, who just managed to avoid it, and turn to face the new threat, Doumon.

"Ice Wolf Claw" MetalGarurumon replied, sending dozens of missiles flying right at Doumon, who simply held up a Talisman to shield herself.

"Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon's attack drew my attention down to ground level as the seven Ultimates jumped into attack Piedmon. He simply side stepped MegaKabuterimon's attack, allowing it to impact the tree behind him.

"Wing Blade!" Garudamon flew into the air before releasing a blast of fiery energy, which was also avoided by Piedmon.

"Is that the best you can do?" He taunted to the other Ultimates.

"Try this! Excalibur!" MagnaAngemon got close enough to Piedmon to bring his sword down on the clown, but Piedmon brought his own sword up to block the attack, which surprisingly enough worked for the clown. He held MagnaAngemon in a stalemate until…

"Clown Trick!" Piedmon brought up his other hand and created a huge blast of energy, which he hit MagnaAngemon with at point blank range. The angel digimon went flying, end over end as the attack laid him out.

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon shouted as soon as MagnaAngemon was out of the way. Several of her pure white arrows flew right at Piedmon, but he blocked each and every one of them with his sword.

"Uh…wasn't that supposed to work?" I asked no one in particular as all the other digimon attacked as well. Things really didn't look good. With Astamon and Doumon distracting WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon Piedmon was dealing with the Ultimates far too easily. MagnaAngemon should have been able to do something, but Piedmon had beaten him off as if he was a simple rookie.

"Yea." Tai grunted as he clenched a fist. He could see everything as clearly as I could, and he had to be thinking the same thing, something had to give for our side. "We need to get out of here."

"What?" Me, Matt, and Sora all said at once.

"We need to get out of here. The battle won't go our way if we stay here." Tai said once more, and I was even more confused. We had all the Crests, we should be able to handle these guys easily. "WarGreymon! Hold them off while we get to the digiport!" Tai shouted up to his partner, who was locked in a furious close range duel with Astamon. Tai then turned to all the digidestined. "Izzy, get us to that digiport!" Tai shouted, and that's all Izzy needed to take off.

The others followed, and Tai had to push me towards them. Even with that shove I stayed towards the back of the group. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon were doing fine against their opponents, but the seven Ultimates weren't slowing Piedmon down in the least. It seems like Tai was right. Piedmon was an entirely different digimon than anything I had faced before. He just kept coming despite everything our digimon threw at him, and didn't seem to be hurt at all.

"Digiport Open!" I heard someone shout in front of me, but the familiar bright flash of light wasn't present afterwards.

I turned to see Yolei still holding her Digivice up to the port, but nothing was happening.

"Izzy!" Tai shouted towards the genius, who rushed to the TV. A few seconds later he stood up.

"It's completely fried! It's not working at all!" Izzy exclaimed, just as Piedmon tossed all of the now rookie level digimon partners at his feet. Above us WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon were still completely occupied by Astamon and Doumon, and it didn't look like they could get here to save us.

"Of course it is, you don't think I'd let you slip away that easily did you?" Piedmon laughed as he advanced towards us. Yolei and Cody were too far away to get to the front in time, so it would be up to me to hold Piedmon off until something came our way. Veemon and I jumped forward in between Piedmon and the others, and he just laughed at the two of us.

I did my best not to turn and run, but even with all of the courage in the world it was going to take a Miracle to survive this one…

Suddenly the Crest around my neck lit up like a Christmas tree, if not brighter. An intense and golden light burst forth, and Piedmon actually backed up a step. I felt energy, like an electrical current flowing through my body, getting more and more intense until it all rushed into the digivice on my belt.

"Veemon Golden Armor Digivolve to!" Veemon was swallowed up by the intense light coming from my digivice, which split into four separate parts before reforming a few feet in front of where Veemon had been standing. Veemon emerged much larger, covered in golden armor all over his body, which was letting off a massive amount of pure light, enough to almost blind me. "Magnamon!"

Magnamon floated just above the ground between Piedmon and me, and stared right at the digimon.

"Magna Blast!" Magnamon released blasts of pure energy, which sent Piedmon cartwheeling away as they hit him.

"Alright! Get him Magnamon!" I shouted gleefully as Piedmon was taken out.

"Trump Swords!" Four swords suddenly flew right at Magnamon, who caught the first two with his wrist bracers, but the other two cut bare skin.

"Ah!" He shouted as the swords did their damage. Piedmon jumped forward once again, holding a sword in each hand, but Magnamon got his arms up in time to block his attacks. Piedmon jumped away after a few swipes and stared right at Magnamon.

"Looks like I'll have to actually fight this one." He sneered at us.

"We'll see whose fighting who in a minute!" I shouted right at Piedmon, who simply smirked.

"Davis, I can't take him on my own." Magnamon said quietly from just in front of me. "He's still playing with us, and I can hardly keep up with him."

"You can take him Magnamon, I'm sure you can." I replied, disturbed that my digimon would say something like that.

"No Davis I can't, but I can hurt him badly." Magnamon replied, before jumping into the air.

"Go for cover!" He shouted down at all of us digidestined, just before he started to glow extremely bright.

"Magna! Explosion!" His entire body was glowing, and then released a massive wave of energy. At that point I took his advice, diving under a log just before the explosion hit, and then everything was dark.

_Oh snap! What happened to the Harmonious Ones? Did Piedmon really imprison them? And did the digidestined really survive? Who knows?_

_So how did you guess like the new perspective? I'd really like your opinion because that'll effect how often we get to hear from Izzy. Well, until next week!_

_**Preview**: __I feel like being evil and leaving a full cliff hanger, so no preview for you this week!_

**_Review Replies: _**

_Lachelle92: I thought that was a rather good touch myself lol. And yes, your imagination was going just a little wild there…lol Thanks!_

_TaioraWarrior: Good to hear! And I'm glad you did. I try and make them somewhat entertaining, and I'm glad this one was. And yea, my parents told me a little about it over Christmas break, and I thought it would be perfect to apply to Davis, and really anyone, since it does, make sense to me._

_Supershooter: Glad you enjoyed! And I guess Piedmon could have made them turtles…but data is probably more likely lol._


	15. Knight Fall

_Well, time for another update, so enjoy yourselves!_

_**Last Time:**__ The digidestined found the last two Crest, as well as another completely deserted Temple. Still curious as to why the Temples were all of a sudden deserted, the digidestined headed for home, only to be stopped by Piedmon. A quick battle ensued, one in which Piedmon had the upper hand, at least until Veemon Golden Armor Digivolved to Magnamon, but even he wasn't powerful enough to stop Piedmon, and eventually had to use his powerful Magna Explosion to try and save some of the digidestined._

_Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, though apparently I should be voting for the other guy as world leader, since he said he'd use my stories for a new season…_

**Chapter 15 Knight Fall**

_Tai_

I struggled to push the dirt and tree parts that had accumulated on top of me from where I had covered up Sora when Magnamon used his attack. There was quite a bit of it as I pushed off of the ground on either side of Sora.

"You ok?" I asked her when I was no longer crushing her. She nodded in response as I pushed the rest of the way up. The dirt and tree parts fell off of my back as I did this, and I looked around to see where everyone else was.

The landscape around us was covered in freshly blown up dirt and trees, coating the ground in a fairly thick lair. The crater where the dirt and trees had once resided was not very far from where I was struggling to pick myself up. I could barely make out an unconscious DemiVeemon in the center of the crater, but he was the only digidestined or digimon I could see right then.

"Tai!" WarGreymon announced his presence by shouting my name as he and MetalGarurumon landed just beside the crater.

"Over here!" I shouted back to my partner, trying to brush some of the dirt off of me as I did so. I could start to pick out some different colors mixed in with the dirt, showing me where the other digidestined were still covered in the stuff.

I held out an arm to help Sora up as the two Mega digimon headed over to us, dedigivolving back into Agumon and Gabumon as they did so.

"What happened?" Agumon asked surveying the large crater as he and Gabumon got over to us.

"Piedmon." I replied, as I bent down to pull Matt out of the dirt. He looked a little more dazed than I had been, but was at least able to sit up with some help. "He took out everyone else's digimon with ease, and the digiport wouldn't work."

"How'd you manage to beat him off then?" Agumon asked as Sora and I, the only two who seemed to be functioning well enough to help the others, went around and started uncovering our friends.

"Davis did something…" Sora replied, and her saying Davis reminded me that my friend had been the one closest to the blast.

"Davis!" I shouted, running over towards the last place I had seen him. Sora and the digimon seemed shocked at my sudden outburst, but I didn't pay any attention to them. I looked around as I got to the crater, searching for any sign of the younger goggle wearer. After a few seconds I spied the blue and red of Davis's jacket under a still intact log.

I pushed the log off of him, and was relieved to see that he was ok, just unconscious, like his partner. I picked up the younger boy and carried him back over to where the rest of the digidestined had emerged from their hiding places. Agumon and Gabumon had also found the rest of the digimon partners, so everyone was gathered back together, though they were all pretty much out of it.

Everyone was sitting a little ways away from each other, just looking around as if unsure what to do. I was putting it off to shellshock, which was understandable. As close as all of us digidestined had come to being killed over the years none of us, other than me that is, had ever experienced something like that, a real near death experience.

I really wanted to give all of them some time to collect themselves, but we couldn't afford to do that. Doumon and Astamon had run off when Piedmon got hit by that explosion, and there was no telling when any of those three would return for another round. We couldn't get into another fight with our digimon exhausted and us digidestined completely out of it.

_We need to get back to the real world_ I thought to myself. Unfortunately Piedmon had done something to the digiport we were near, so we'd have to go the next nearest one.

"Izzy, where's the next nearest digiport?" I asked my friend, hoping asking for knowledge would snap him a little bit out of his faze. It didn't work as he seemed to ignore me while holding onto Motimon. "IZZY!" I shouted this time, and that got a response as Izzy jumped a bit. "Snap out of it Izzy, I need you to find the nearest digiport." I told the younger boy, in a much more quiet voice. He nodded once and then pulled out his laptop.

My shouted seemed to have done some good as the rest of the digidestined all seemed at least a little more alert now. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Sora didn't really give me a chance to respond as she pulled me away from the group. Once we were a little bit away from the group she stopped pulling me along and turned to look at me.

"What do you think you're doing Tai?" She asked, and I did my best not to get angry. She must not be seeing everything as clearly as I was if she had to ask that question.

"We need to get away from here, the sooner the better." I replied to her.

"No one is in the right condition to move right now Tai. Give them some time." Sora replied to me.

"Sora, we have to get moving, now." I answered back, and I knew instantly that I should have done a better job explaining myself than just saying that, I almost deserved what she said next, but only almost.

"Tai we're in no condition to go running after Piedmon, so just let everyone recover a bit before trying to march us off to war." Sora said, and I think she might have regretted her words a little bit, as she covered her mouth with her hand almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

A few years before I would have gotten angry, probably yelled a bit, and in the very least gotten into a fight with that word choice. Matt had said pretty much the same thing to me when we'd first started fighting the Dark Masters, and while it had mostly been true, I'd grown up a lot since then and Sora of all people should know that.

"I don't think you really meant that Sora." I said to her, and she looked down as I said that. I wanted to add something else, but I probably would have shouted at that moment if I had, so I just turned and walked away.

_Ok, maybe it still really pisses me off that she'd say that…_ I thought to myself as I walked away. _I need to wait until later for this conversation unless I want a nice big fight._

Sora followed me after a second so I didn't worry about her getting lost or something, but she seemed to sense that I didn't want to talk right then.

_Yea, giving someone the cold shoulder does have that effect…_

Izzy was typing away at his laptop and everyone else seemed to be walking around a bit so they should be good to travel, hopefully.

"Izzy, did you find that digiport?" I asked him, crouching down next to where he was sitting.

"Yea, there's one a couple of kilometers away from here." Izzy answered.

"Good." I answered Izzy, giving him a pat on the back. Then I turned to everyone else. I'd have to explain things better to them because I couldn't give the entire team the cold shoulder if they didn't follow my train of thought.

"Ok guys, I know no one feels like moving right now, but we need to get away from here and back to the real world." I started off, carefully avoiding Sora's gaze. I'd talk to her once we were all back in the real world, safe from Piedmon, but right now I didn't need the distraction since I was the only clear thinker in the group. "Izzy found a digiport only a short distance from here, so let's get moving."

I was surprised that there was a minimal amount of grumbling as I said that, at least until Ken pointed out something I completely missed.

"Tai, how are we going to move Davis?" He asked as we all stood up and gathered up the knocked out digimon. I stopped what I was doing and looked at the unconscious Davis and realized I had no idea what to do.

"Uh…I have no idea…" I said, rubbing the back of my head nervously as I said this.

Everyone looked at me, and then Matt let out a short laugh.

"Now that's a relief to see Tai hasn't completely turned all perfect on us." He said with his laugh, which was joined for a few seconds by everyone else. I joined in as well, glad that we could make a joke even if it was at my expense.

"Shut it Matt!" I said to keep up the charade and we shared a grin at the old joke.

"I've got an idea!" Yolei called out coming forward with the uninjured and fully energized Hawkmon. "Digi-Armor Energize!"

A white egg with a pair of wing like sides spat out of Yolei's D-Terminal as she said this and it flew at Hawkmon.

"Hawkmon Armor Digivolve to! Halsemon! The Wings of Love" Hawkmon's armor form landed in front of where I was standing by Davis.

"Halsemon can carry Davis!" Yolei exclaimed as she arrived next to her partner.

"I've got some rope we can use to tie him down!" Joe exclaimed, running forward with his bag. A few seconds later Halsemon was ready to go with Davis tied to his back.

"Don't fly too far, just in case something happens." Yolei told her partner before he took off into the sky.

With that we all headed out, following Izzy towards the digiport. The walk was a quiet one, as almost everyone was just trying to focus on getting to the digiport and out of here to safety. I stayed towards the front of the group, hoping Sora would take the hint that I didn't want to talk at that moment. She did seem to get it, or at least didn't feel like talking to me at the moment either, so she stayed back near Mimi and Yolei.

An hour or two later we arrived at the television that marked a connection to the real world. Everyone had pretty much recovered from their shellshock, so we looked less ragged and all the digimon seemed to have regained consciousness, except DemiVeemon that is, so everyone's hands, except mine, were free.

Halsemon landed a few seconds after we all arrived at the TV, and Davis had awoken sometime in the air.

"Someone get me off this crazy bird!" Davis practically yelled as Halsemon landed near us.

"Crazy bird that just carried you several kilometers." Halsemon corrected, much to just about everyone's amusement.

I smiled myself, helping Joe untie the knots that were holding Davis in place. It was good that we could still find some humor in some part of this situation.

'Could you guys hurry up, all my blood's rushing to my…" Davis was saying when we undid the last knot, causing him to fall off of Halsemon onto the ground. "ugh…" Davis groaned as he slowly picked himself up.

I helped Davis up off of the ground as he tried to get his feet back under him.

"Easy there Davis, no need to go charging off anywhere." I said as Davis tried to step forward and nearly fell again. Being unconscious and then tied to a flying digimon for the last several hours hadn't done much good for Davis's motor control.

"Where's Veemon?" Davis asked instead of trying to do anything. Kari stepped forward where she was still holding DemiVeemon. Joe and I lowered Davis into a sitting position next to a tree, and Kari handed over the unconscious digimon. Davis held onto his partner as soon as he got him into his arms.

"Davis?" A little voice asked not a second after entering Davis's arms.

"Hey buddy." Davis replied, holding DemiVeemon a little ways away from him as they both seemed to recover.

"Tai!" A voice called my name before I could listen in to Davis and his partner anymore. Izzy was gesturing for me to come over to him, which I did with reluctance since Sora was standing opposite of him and Matt.

I headed over to where he was sitting with his laptop plugged into the digiport, and I could tell from the look on his face that things probably weren't very good.

"What's up Izzy?" I asked anyways as I walked over to the group, careful not to look at Sora.

"The digiport isn't working, and from what I can tell none of the others are either." Izzy said, and I was concerned. If none of the digiports in the area were working we'd have to wait until our digimon had enough energy to digivolve and get us to another area.

"Can you pinpoint the closest one that's working so we have an idea of where to head?" I asked, and Izzy shook his head. "Why not?"

"Tai, you're not understanding me, all of the digiports, in the entire digital world, are not working." Izzy said, slowly as he would when I said something particularly dumb.

"Every…One?" I asked, and he nodded. "As in there's no way for us to get back home?"

"As far as I can tell, yes." Izzy replied, and I stepped back. There went my plan for pretty much everything. All of my planning had been based on the fact that we could get into or out of the digital world pretty much at will, and travel all over it nearly instantly. Now it was almost like our first trip to the digital world, stuck here with no way of getting home, only this time we didn't have the convenient time warp to make months here seem like seconds back home.

_Ok, calm down, you need to get everyone to someplace safe, then you can come up with a plan to get us out of this mess…_ I thought to myself, calming my racing mind and heart as I did this.

"Izzy, is there anywhere nearby where we can hunker down?" I asked, and Izzy replied with a smile.

"I'm a step ahead of you Tai, Gennai's house is only a couple of hours away from here, and it's the best hiding place I can think of." Izzy replied, and I shared the grin with him. He was starting to get back to normal, out thinking me with ease.

"Alright, let's get moving." I said, standing up, only to be interrupted by a throat clearing. My gaze was almost forced towards Sora as she looked at me.

"Don't you think we should give everyone a little while to rest?" She asked, and I had to take a deep breath. I was still pretty upset with her earlier comment, and apparently she hadn't really paid attention to what we had been doing the last couple of hours.

"I think it would be better to get out of the open first." I replied, and the tension that filled out little circle could have been cut with a knife. Matt and Izzy looked between the two of us, and tried to make themselves melt into the background.

"We won't make it to Gennai's if we don't get some rest first." Sora countered, and I resisted the urge to snarl at her.

_Why is this making me so angry?_ I asked myself, and Matt moved a bit, attracting attention to himself for a scant second. Then I remembered. Matt would argue pretty much this line with me when we were younger in the digital world. I'd get just as angry, but I'd let it all out as I got angry rather than bottling it up like I was now.

I cocked my head to the side as I forced my anger done and replied as calmly as possible.

"If we don't get to Gennai's we won't be around long enough to rest."

Sora glared at me, and I glared right back. This was already one of our worst fights the entire time we were dating, and it looked like it was going to get worse before it got better.

"Izzy, what do you think?" Sora asked after a second, and I had to give her credit for that. Matt would probably agree with Sora, but it wouldn't change the situation since Matt and I always used to fight about this. Izzy was a person who all of us would listen to, and could probably pick well.

"Well, both options have merit…" Izzy replied as Sora and I swiveled to glare at him.

"Pick one Izzy." I said very quietly, a sure sign that I was getting angrier. I would get more and more quite as I got angry until I absolutely burst, then I got really, really loud.

"UH…" Izzy looked back and forth between the two of us, seeming to realize that he was in between a rock and a hard place, literally. He probably feared for his safety at this point. "…I have to agree with Tai."

I could feel my mouth form a smile against my will. That cocky grin wouldn't help things between me and Sora right now, but I couldn't help it.

"Hrmph…" Sora turned and walked away from us, arms crossed. Izzy and Matt both let out sighs of relief as she got out of earshot.

"What did you two fight about?" Matt asked which earned him a glare from me.

"None of your business!" I replied, heading back to where the younger kids were clustered around Davis. They hopefully wouldn't ask questions and I could get them moving.

~Two hours later~

I really should have thought better about walking with the younger kids. Both Kari and Davis were in that group, and they noticed that something was obviously wrong and alternated asking me what was the matter until I burst at them. It's not that I didn't like that they were concerned for me, I just didn't want to talk about it right then.

I was relieved when we finally reached Gennai's lake, at least until we got inside Gennai's home. I hadn't been here in a few years, but everything was exactly how I remembered it, including Gennai. The only problem was the fact that Gennai was supposed to be much younger than he was now. He looked just as he had when he first appeared to us all those years ago.

"Gennai! What happened?" Pretty much everyone asked as he let us into his home.

"It's a long story digidestined." He replied, at which Matt chimed in.

"We've got plenty of time, why don't you let us know."

So he sat us down, and told us, most likely a result of his altered state since he usually was very cryptic with us, and never gave us a straight answer.

"It appears that we've all been had." He started off. "Piedmon wanted you to have your Crests back. They hold a portion of each Harmonious One's power, and they are weaker without them than with them. When they all separated out your Crests from themselves they became weaker, and vulnerable." Gennai paused at this point, gathering some tea for all of us.

"Where was I? Ah yes, vulnerable." Gennai answered himself. "They were all meeting together to discuss what additional steps to take against Piedmon, and he found them there. He imprisoned them once again, sealing away their healing power and throwing the digital world out of balance once again."

Gennai continued to explain how one of the results of that was him using his youth since it had been a gift from the Harmonious Ones, and that how once again we were the one and only hope for the digital world.

That was the extent of his tale, and he had seemed exhausted from that little bit by itself. Joe and Mimi helped him back to his room while the rest of us were left in the house to fend for ourselves. We eventually broke into smaller groups, seeking a little bit of comfort from one another.

Everyone except me that is.

I had to figure out how we were going to stop Piedmon. He always had his two cronies to back him up, each with the power of a Mega digimon, and we'd probably need more than just one Mega to finish him off, especially with MagnaAngemon no longer able to take him out like the first time.

And that leads us up to where I am now, sitting by myself out in the room with the big map, trying to figure out any way to stop this digimon who could imprison the Harmonious Ones by himself, while everyone else was trying to rest and recover.

"So you want to tell me why you're so angry now?" A voice interrupted my thoughts, and I turned to see Sora standing in the door way to the room.

Usually I'd be very happy to see her, but I wasn't ready to have this discussion yet, not while we still had Piedmon to deal with and everyone was in danger. The responsibility I had for everyone else, I realized, was part of what was putting me on edge. The need to get everyone else out of danger as soon as possible was contributing to my anger from my conversations with Sora. I just needed to get everyone somewhere actually safe, and then I could think straight for a minute and deal with Sora.

Of course all of that was only vaguely on my mind as I turned around. What took up most of my mind was a dull anger. How could she not know what was making me angry? To come in and ask that question had the exact opposite effect of making anything better between us.

I should take a deep breath and explain to her that it had hurt to hear her of all people accuse me of wanting to lead everyone off into a war like some little kid. Her who knew me better than anyone else, Kari included. For her to say that had hurt me in a way that I hadn't been hurt since the start of the school year when she was dating Matt. To demonstrate such a lack of understanding how I felt just made me wonder if she really knew me at all.

It was probably just a stupid thought on my part since she had to know me better, but I wasn't one of the smartest or most rational people in the world.

Now though that anger wanted to bubble out again. The fact that she still hadn't figured out what was going on, nearly four hours after the fight, had the exact same impact that the original statement had on me.

"You can't figure that out on your own?" I asked her, and she gave me and exasperated look.

"How could I? You can't even give me a single clue as to what's wrong?" She replied, and she seemed genuinely lost, which only made me angrier.

"Why don't you actually think about it for a minute?" I replied, and then despite every attempt to control myself, I added, "I have to plan my big war right now, so I can't help." With that I turned around.

Sora gasped a little, but I just made myself ignore her, which was far easier than I thought it would be. This was the very reason I hadn't wanted to talk to her until we got back home. I would end up saying something that would upset her even more and make things worse, like usual.

I kept staring at the map resisting the urge to look back at Sora, because I knew that if I did I'd probably break down completely, which is probably why I jumped half out of my skin when someone put a hand on my shoulder.

Turning I saw that it was Matt, who had entered the room silently enough for me not to hear him at all.

"You alright?" He asked, and I nodded automatically. "Then what did you do to Sora?"

"What I did?" I replied, wondering what she had been telling Matt.

"She came into the room where Izzy and I were, upset about something, but she wouldn't tell us." Matt replied. "I assume it has something to do with why the two of you were trying to burn each other alive with glares earlier."

I opened my mouth to tell Matt to shove off, but the look in his eyes made me stop.

"We got into a fight..." I replied instead, and Matt snorted.

"I'd gathered that, now what was it about?"

"You remember during our first battle against the Dark Masters?" I asked, and Matt nodded. "You remember when Whamon died?" Another nod, this one jerkier. "Well, she accused me of the same thing you did when I was trying to get everyone else moving to a digiport."

Matt winced as I said this, knowing it couldn't have been great for me to have someone accuse me of war mongering, especially Sora.

"I didn't want to get into a fight there, so I just walked away. I thought we'd be home in a few hours and I could calm down and we could talk." I continued. "But we're not, and we're not going to be able to for a little while either."

"You could always just try talking to her about it now." Matt suggested, and I shook my head. I hated to sound like a cry baby at this point, but I had to do things my way.

"She doesn't even realize what it was that upset me." I replied, and Matt's mouth snapped shut. "That's why I can't talk to her, if she really doesn't understand me well enough to realize what's upset me, then maybe something deeper is wrong with us."

I'd finally voiced what was really truly bothering me, the fact that my relationship with Sora, the woman I loved, might be a giant lie, at least from her side.

Matt patted my shoulder, and looked me right in the eye.

"Tai," he said, "Don't make me have to punch you. You and Sora understand each other better than anyone else I've ever met. The two of you complete each other in every way."

"Bu…"

"No buts. We're all under a lot of stress, as you've pointed out a time or two, and that includes Sora. She's probably not thinking straight either." Matt told me as he interrupted me, and he honestly made quite a bit of sense.

"Yea…" I said, and he grinned as I said this.

"Good, now you should take a break yourself. You'd probably have figured this out on your own a while ago if you weren't so exhausted." Matt replied with a brief laugh.

"Thanks Matt. You were a big help." I told him, and he shrugged.

"Hey, that's what friends are for, helping each other out." He said with a smile, and an idea suddenly formed in my mind.

"THAT'S IT!" I shouted, startling Matt, and I'm pretty sure everyone else in the house since they all came running into the room.

"Do I even want to know what's it?" Matt asked as he shook his head, probably ringing from my outburst.

"Yes you do." I replied, a big smile on my face. The answer was so simple I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it earlier.

"Fine, Tai, what's it?" Matt asked as everyone else watched on.

"I figured out how we beat Piedmon." I declared confidently, attracting attention from everyone. "In one word, Omnimon."

~The Next Day~

We spent the rest of the day resting and preparing to go out and find Piedmon. I ended up spending most of it on my own. I just wasn't able to bring myself to go and talk to any of the other digidestined because they would want to know what happened between Sora and I.

When the morning finally came we all left Gennai's in a group, all of us and our digimon rested and more prepared for the fight we were about to enter, at least I thought we were.

"So how are we going to find Piedmon?" Davis asked after we'd been walking for a few minutes.

"I was wondering the same thing myself. Tai do you have some sort of plan to find Piedmon?" Izzy asked, and I looked back at him from where Agumon and I were leading the group.

"Well, I was just planning on letting him find us…" I said which earned me a rather exasperated look from everyone else.

"Tai we really need to work on your planning." Matt said with a sigh.

"I actually rather like his plan." A voice not belonging to any of the digidestined or our digimon stated. We all turned towards the voice, which predictably turned out to be Piedmon, flanked by Doumon and Astamon. "Back for your destruction digidestined?"

"How about your destruction!" Davis shouted in response, earning him a glare from Piedmon.

"I think not." Piedmon replied in a deadpan, and stepped forward. That was more than enough for all of our digimon to digivolve to their highest forms, blocking Piedmon's path.

"Do we really have to do this again?" Piedmon asked the digimon, and his only response was a growl from pretty much every one of them. "Very well, Doumon, Astamon."

The two digimon jumped forward to attack, only to be met in the air by the seven Ultimates, who proceeded to attack the much smaller digimon. That left Piedmon facing WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon, and Magnamon.

"Get him Magnamon!" Davis shouted, and his partner rushed forward.

"Magna Blast!" Blasts of plasma shot out, hitting Piedmon and all around him.

"Alright!" Davis cheered.

"Clown Trick!" A blast of red energy hit Magnamon, blasting him out of the sky as Piedmon reappeared, unharmed by the attack.

"One down, two to go." Piedmon taunted WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon.

"Why don't we even the odds for you a little?" WarGreymon stated as Matt and I stepped forward, our digivices glowing,

"What?" Piedmon asked, apparently confused by WarGreymon's statement.

"Go for it guys!" I shouted, triggering the DNA digivolution.

"WarGreymon! MetalGarurumon! DNA Digivolve to!" Both digimon seemed to be sucked up into their heads, which started to grow in size, and sprout arm like protrusions. Meanwhile a body started to form between the two arms.

I watched Piedmon's eyes get wide as he watched them digivolve together, and started to smile gleefully, until he jumped forward.

"Clown Trick!" Piedmon unleashed a much larger red blast of energy right at the still forming Omnimon, and it hit him while he was still digivolving.

"Ah!" Twin voices shouted as there was a sudden release of energy. All the power that was being used to create Omnimon released itself in a sudden blast, knocking everyone off of their feet.

"Doumon, Astamon, we're leaving!" I heard Piedmon shout as I hung onto a tree for dear life.

"Talisman Spell!" I heard Doumon yell before I show her and Astamon fly off with Piedmon. Several seconds later the blast seemed to stop, leaving us with an unconscious Koromon and Tsunomon.

_Well, that wasn't good. So let's make sure everyone's on the same page. Tai and Sora are fighting, over something really dumb, so business as usual. Piedmon likes to attack digimon while they digivolve, just like a bad guy would…and Doumon used her spell thingy that prevent DNA digivolving on WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. Which all put together tells us…things are going to get really interesting, and this story isn't even close to being done. Till next time!_

**_Prievew_**_**: **(extra-long this week!)_

"_What's he actually upset about?" I asked, curious as to what was worse than that, but I didn't really get the opportunity._

"_Do we really have to talk about that?" A voice asked from behind us, and all of us jumped to our feet to see Tai standing there._

"_Tai…" Matt started to say, but Tai just shook his head._

"_I don't want to talk about it, not now." He replied, and then looked down at his feet. "I know no one really wants to talk about it, but we need to discuss our next move."_

"_NO!" A sudden shout shocked all of us. I turned to see Mimi looking up at all of us. "We don't have to do anything! Can't you see where this is going to go? More of us are going to get hurt" She looked down at this point, "Some of us could even get killed! Tai already almost died, what happens the next time that happens and we can't get to a hospital!"_

_**Review Replies:**_

_TaioraWarrior: So thanks again for the format heads up, and yea, Izzy has even more going on in his mind than he lets anyone else know lol. And yea, any decent play writer would. And no, this story isn't almost over, not yet lol._

_TheOmegaMan: He should have, but again, far too easy. Then it wouldn't be a good story lol._

_TogetherAgain: Thanks! And sorry about that again!_

_LyraXEthan: Thanks! And every Sunday!_

_Supershooter: I wouldn't go so far as to compare him to a pokemon…but at times, yes lol. His most powerful attack is blowing up lol. Thanks! And good thinking on your part! Also, don't expect the cliff hangers to go away, their just too much fun! Lol_

_Ke3peroffire: thanks! And yea, you could say I'm decently active here…hope you enjoyed!_

_The other Guy: So did you like my little reference to you in the disclaimer? Your statement seemed perfect for one of those. But I'm glad you like my stuff, hopefully it remains enjoyable. And I try to balance it out, but honestly I'm not so good with Mimi, Yolei, and Cody. I try and compensate, but I just don't like them overly much._


	16. Seperation

_So, I'm drawing a blank on the pre chapter Author's Note, so, ON TO THE STORY!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own digimon…and I'm all out of Oreos…(kudos to whoever knows where that's from)_

**Chapter 16 Separation**

_Kari_

I held onto the sleeping Salamon in Gennai's house and watched everyone else in the room with me. Things really weren't good for anyone right now. All of our digimon were exhausted from the battles with Piedmon, Doumon, and Astamon on consecutive days. Salamon was so exhausted she couldn't even maintain her champion form like she normally did.

Every other digimon, except Hawkmon and Armadillomon who hadn't participated in the battles, was in its in-training level, and currently completely passed out. All of the other digidestined weren't much better.

Joe, was dealing with Cody, who'd broken his arm during the large explosion that Omnimon had provided when his digivolution was interrupted. He had his arm immobilized in a splint, but there wasn't much more he could do without access to a hospital's resources.

Mimi was sitting in a corner, holding tightly onto Tanemon, and not speaking to anyone. We'd hardly gotten Mimi to say anything at all since we'd returned to Gennai's house, but she insisted that she was fine.

All of the original digidestined's digimon, other than Tanemon and Koromon, were in a giant pile, sleeping the battle off.

Davis was in Gennai's kitchen attempting to make some noodles for everyone, while DemiVeemon was looking to get some food early. Izzy was also in the kitchen, sitting at the table doing something with his computer.

Ken and Yolei were talking quietly in a corner, along with Hawkmon and Minomon, while T.K. and Matt were sitting on either side of me.

That left us with the two who were having the most difficulties right now. Sora was sitting opposite of the three of us, doing her best not to meet a single one of our eyes, while Tai, and Koromon for that matter, wasn't actually in the room. These two were just making things more difficult for everyone.

I suppose a little explaining would be useful for everyone.

Sora and my brother had gotten into a fight yesterday, not unusual for the two of them, thought this had seemed like a bit worse of a fight than normal. They hadn't talked the entire time we were at Gennai's, even when we headed out into battle, which was cause for a little concern, at least in my opinion. Both of them were stubborn, and their fights could last for a long time, but they both loved each other very much, it was impossible to miss that fact. Not even talking to each other before a big fight where someone could have gotten hurt (actually someone had gotten hurt, but that's not the point) was cause for concern.

Matt had talked to my brother, and Mimi to Sora, but neither of them was willing to budge an inch on whatever it was that they had fought about. And now we had this situation.

I don't think either of them had planned on upsetting the other, or for having it go on this long, but as I mentioned before, both of them were stubborn and in many ways often spoke without thinking (my brother did this far more often than Sora, but she could be just as guilty of not thinking before saying something as him). And that had happened when we got back.

I wasn't around for the actual conversation, but Sora had said something to Tai, who was already pretty down due to his plan failing and leaving most of our partners injured, as well as Cody. That had resulted in Tai locking himself in one of the rooms of Gennai's house with Koromon.

I'd wanted to try and talk to him, but Matt stopped me from following him, telling me that he probably just needed a bit of space. This whole situation was just making me angry, and it seemed like my brother was regressing a little bit back to how he had been acting over the summer.

I didn't know what was upsetting Sora so much, but she had better figure it out before she did something that really hurt my brother, again. If she treated his feelings so callously, or couldn't see what she was doing, and really did hurt him, I don't know if I'd ever be able to forgive her.

_Wow, I haven't been this angry in a long time_… I thought to myself as I continued glaring at Sora. After a few more minutes she couldn't really seem to take it anymore, and left the room, heading to the far side of the house from the room Tai was in.

"I wonder what's up with her?" Joe asked as he watched Sora leave. He'd just finished up with Cody, and the two of them sat down where Sora had been sitting.

Matt looked down, while T.K. just shrugged, leaving me to answer Joe.

"She's feeling bad about her fight with Tai." I replied, glaring down the hallway that Sora had taken out of the room.

"What did they even fight about?" T.K. asked, since he didn't really know. In all honesty I didn't even know, I just knew it wasn't good for either of them, though Tai seemed more affected by it.

"Uh…" Matt started, and then looked down, earning him a look from all three of us.

"Do you know something Matt?" T.K. asked before I could ask the same thing.

Matt looked around, but he was the center for five people's undivided attention, and couldn't avoid answering the question.

"Yea, Tai told me his side." The blond told us.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" I asked exasperated with the blond for withholding information that could have been helping us fix things.

"Because I thought they'd be done with it by now, and it's not really something we can deal with." Matt replied. "Tai's not just upset over what Sora said, that's only a part of it. He's thinking there may be something wrong with their relationship, and he needs Sora to realize the problem rather than spelling it out for her."

That stopped every one of the angry statements I had for the musician. Something to do with their relationship? What was wrong with their relationship? It was probably one of the best ones I'd ever seen. I mean, they had their moments of being angry and pissed off at each other, but I don't think I'd ever meet two people who were just so right for each other.

Even T.K. and I didn't mesh on the same level that Tai and Sora did, and everyone always said how we were perfect for each other (which we are, just in case you're wondering!). What could have caused Tai to think that?

"What?" Joe asked, probably mirroring my thoughts somewhat. Cody looked thoughtful at Matt's statement, and T.K. took ahold of my hand.

"Sora said something similar to what I told Tai right after we lost Whamon the first time we fought the Dark Masters." Matt replied, and I was confused.

I'd been a lot younger back then, and not really paying attention to what the older kids were saying. I was too sad over Whamon being deleted to save us.

I watched Joe's forehead crinkle as he thought back, and then he snapped his fingers.

"You mean about not giving any one any time or space?" He asked, and suddenly it came back to me.

Tai had wanted to get everyone moving, to finish fighting the Dark Masters so he could get me out of the digital world, and danger. Matt had taken exception to that, and accused Tai of not caring about the rest of the group in his pursuit of the Dark Masters. It had started the fight between the two of them, which ended in WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon almost destroying each other.

"Yea. Sora said something similar to that." Matt answered, "But that's not what he's really upset about."

"That's more than enough for him to be upset about I think. I remember the fights you two got in when you said that." T.K. replied to Matt, who simply nodded.

"What's he actually upset about?" I asked, curious as to what was worse than that, but I didn't really get the opportunity.

"Do we really have to talk about that?" A voice asked from behind us, and all of us jumped to our feet to see Tai standing there.

"Tai…" Matt started to say, but Tai just shook his head.

"I don't want to talk about it, not now." He replied, and then looked down at his feet. "I know no one really wants to talk about it, but we need to discuss our next move."

That statement earned a number of different reactions. I couldn't see Davis or Izzy's since they were in a different room. Joe looked a little down, but he wasn't going to argue, since that was against his nature. Cody looked up at Tai, and I'm sure he was wondering what he was going to be able to do with his arm. Ken and Yolei broke up their private conversation to look at the rest of us, while I felt both T.K. and Matt stiffen.

I could tell that none of them really wanted to have that conversation, or think about the fact that we had to find some way to deal with an enemy who appeared to be completely unstoppable, but everyone was willing to get to work. It was part of being a digidestined. I remembered back to when we had first fought the Dark Masters, and how powerful they'd seemed back when we started fighting them, and when we'd fought BlackWarGreymon and MaloMyotismon. All of those enemies had seemed completely unstoppable, but we'd managed to beat them anyways.

That went through my mind at this moment, and I'm sure through some of the others, and while none of us wanted to do what we had to do, all of us were ready to do what must be done.

"NO!" A sudden shout shocked all of us. I turned to see Mimi looking up at all of us. "We don't have to do anything! Can't you see where this is going to go? More of us are going to get hurt" She looked down at this point, "Some of us could even get killed! Tai already almost died, what happens the next time that happens and we can't get to a hospital!"

I was looking at Mimi rather scared from her outburst. She'd said something similar when we'd gone after the Dark Masters, but this was even worse than then. She'd been concerned about losing friends then, not one of our own.

"Why do we always have to be the ones who stop the evil digimon? It's not fair! Why can't we just let someone else handle it for once?" Mimi looked on the verge of tears at this point, and I didn't even want to think about how anyone was going to calm her down. I knew Tai wasn't really the best person for that job ever, and Sora wasn't around, which left…

"Mimi, it's not that simple…" Matt started to say, standing up, and surprising me at least. I didn't think Matt and Mimi really talked, ever.

"Matt, stop." Tai spoke suddenly, grabbing his friends arm. Matt looked back at him as his forward motion was halted. "Mimi's right."

That shocked me, Matt, and well, everyone else. Davis and Izzy had even come in from the kitchen to see what was happening, but no one was prepared for what Tai said.

"What?" Matt asked, showing the surprise that everyone felt.

"Mimi's right that it's not fair that we have to handle this every time a new evil digimon appears." Tai said in a quiet voice that sounded nothing like him. It almost sounded defeated, or maybe deflated was a better word. There was none of the excitement or joy that Tai would usually have in his voice. Then the look on his face changed.

"I don't think that any of you should fight in this battle." Tai declared, and his voice started to gain strength, and almost re-inflate. "This isn't like anything we've faced before, which means things will have to be done differently, and I don't think it's fair to anyone to make them fight if they don't want to."

Tai's words seemed to sink into the room. Everyone was staring right at him, almost like they were seeing him for the first time. I was shocked myself. My brother didn't want everyone to fight? Didn't want us working as a team? But hadn't he always said that being together as a team was the key to success?

_This isn't like anything we've faced before…_ his voice echoed in my mind as we all sat stunned. He understood that, and, the more I thought about it the more it seemed to make sense.

He actually agreed with part of what Mimi said. He knew that any or all of us could be injured or even killed in these battles as Piedmon didn't seem to care if he attacked human or digimon. The same thing that had always worked for us wasn't going to work anymore. We had to try something new, and Tai wanted to get some of us away in case it didn't work.

"Mimi, take everyone else, and go as far away from this part of the digital world as you can." Tai said, looking towards the brown haired girl.

Tai was actually trying to break up our team and send most of us away. You could see the shock in everyone's eyes. This had never happened before. Even when we split up when we fought the Dark Masters it had been in much smaller groups while Tai kept a large group.

_I guess this is the same, only Tai is breaking off from the rest of us…_

It's strange. I'd always stuck with my brother in the digital world, and considered the group that he was with the one that everyone else was splitting up with. Now it seemed that he was the one who was splitting off from the rest of us, even if he did plan on staying here.

"I'm staying with you Tai!" Davis suddenly declared, stepping forward. I actually smiled at the shared look between Tai and Davis. I don't know why he would have thought that Davis would do anything different than volunteer to stay with him.

"Me to." Izzy suddenly declared, standing over with the two goggle wearing boys. "You two will be hopelessly lost without someone telling you which way was south." Izzy smirked at Davis with his last comment.

"Hey! I did pick to go south! I was testing you!" Davis said loudly, which actually got a chorus of laughs from the people in the room.

"You guys are going to need someone to keep Davis in line, so I'd better go." Ken said, standing up from where he'd been sitting with Yolei.

Matt was the next one to stand, but Tai put a hand on his shoulder as he stood.

"Matt, I want you to stay with the others." Tai said, and Matt turned back to him. "Just in case they run into trouble, I want you to be there to get them out of it."

Matt turned to look at Tai, and I was almost afraid for a minute. Tai had just put on a huge display of trust in Matt, if you looked at it the way I'm sure Tai meant. He wanted Matt to look after everyone else, which I'm sure he would make to include me despite every protest I intended to make with him. But Matt could look at it as Tai wanting to get rid of him. I hoped he didn't, but it was possible that he would look at it that way.

Matt finally nodded, reaching out an arm to Tai, which he took happily. Now came the hard part for me, out-stubborning my brother to convince him that I should stay.

_Sora_

Being frustrated was not something that I enjoyed. Right now I was pacing around in one of the many empty rooms at Gennai's house, simply because I was tired of the staring I was getting from Kari and Matt.

Ok, sure my conversation with Tai probably could have gone over a little better, and that was partially, ok, entirely my fault, but that didn't mean I deserved to have everyone side against me. Of the digidestined who were actually taking sides in this matter the only two who were saying or doing anything had sided against me, and it was frustrating. Two of my closest friends were hardly talking to me, not to mention my boyfriend.

I sat down after another pace through the room. I didn't really know what was wrong with me. After the first battle with Piedmon, I was honestly out of it. I didn't know what I was really doing when I pulled Tai aside. It seemed like he was trying to get everyone moving towards another battle with Piedmon, at least that's what I was afraid he was doing.

I don't even know why I thought he was doing that. My thoughts from those first few hours were still not entirely coherent, but it had made sense then. I don't know why I decided to use the exact word choice that I had when I pulled Tai aside, and I had regretted it as soon as I said it.

Not only was the word choice extremely poor, and not what I really meant, but I could tell that it hurt Tai to hear them again. They brought back memories of when he had been younger, and maybe not as considerate as he was now, and I didn't mean to do that to him.

I wanted to apologize as soon as the words were out of my mouth, but he didn't give me the opportunity, just walking away. That's why I was still angry at him, that and his actions since then. I know I should have talked to him, but him just blowing me off like that had made me angry. I decided then and there that my best choice would be to wait until we got back to the real world and we'd both cooled off a little bit, then we could fix everything and go back to normal.

Unfortunately that wasn't to be, as the portal to the real world wasn't working, somehow disabled or blocked. I knew Izzy would be able to fix it if we gave him some time, and then we could get out of there, not to mention giving everyone a much needed break. Tai happened to disagree with that idea. I suppose coming back to Gennai's made sense, but I still felt that we would have been fine resting for a while, and who knew, maybe Izzy would have fixed the digiport and we'd be recovering at home rather than here at Gennai's house.

I'd done my best to keep a cool head about the entire ordeal, and it had even turned out that Tai was completely right. When we arrived at Gennai's all of us digidestined had spread out to recuperate and recover. I stayed with Izzy, and convinced him to try and fix the digiports from Gennai's house. It turned out that there was nothing that Izzy could do about the digiports. Whatever Piedmon had done to them had completely shut them down, beyond even Izzy's abilities to fix.

It was at that point that I decided to try and talk to Tai. He'd been secluded away from the rest of us almost the entire time we'd been at Gennai's doing who knows what, and I decided that then was a good time to see him.

I still was a little concerned as to what was really bothering him, since it seemed to be more than just what I'd said back where we'd had the battle. We had gotten into fights over things one or the other of us had said before, and this just felt different. I just had this feeling that it was something deeper than just a simple comment with this fight. I knew Tai well enough to trust my gut in this one, since he wouldn't have given me the silent treatment for this.

So I'd tried asking him what it was. I thought that everyone's tempers had settled down enough for this conversation, and Tai would be willing to at least talk to me, but boy was I wrong. I don't know what I did, but it upset him more than I'd ever seen him, at least while we were dating. He hardly responded to me, and only seemed to get more pissed off when I tried to figure out what was wrong. Can you really blame me for trying to at least figure out what I did wrong?

_Ugh. Stupid Tai acting like a 12 year old girl!_ I almost felt like pulling my hair in exasperation as I thought back to that conversation. Tai had acted pretty immature, especially with his parting comment. That's the thing that had re-pissed me off. Taking a barb at a comment I hadn't really meant was more than enough to cause me to leave, and start my cycle of anger all over again.

By the time we arrived back at Gennai's today after our nearly disastrous battle with Piedmon, I was a little more than on edge, and couldn't help but make things worse. And that led me to where I was now. My boyfriend not even speaking to me due to stupidity on both of our parts, friends who were either not willing to talk because of shell shock, or because they were siding with my boyfriend, and an injured digimon partner.

I laid down on the bed that occupied a good portion of the room I was in. I had to figure out what was wrong. I knew Tai better than anyone else, but I didn't even have a clue as to why he was so upset. One stupid comment couldn't have pissed him off this much, even if I had compounded it earlier today. It's not like I had actually meant it, it had just slipped out of my shocked mind…

_That's it…_ I suddenly sat straight up. The one thing that could cause Tai to act like a stupid twelve year old, and be completely upset, he thought I actually meant that comment.

"Ugh…" I groaned as this realization hit me, and I felt horrible. If he actually thought that I had meant that comment then he would instantly be thinking that I didn't understand him. That would be one of the most devastating things to him, thinking that I didn't understand him.

He would jump to the conclusion that it was more than just a simple misunderstanding, but a rather large problem in our relationship. I could already see how it would have upset him as much as it had in my mind. That was one of the best, and worst, things about knowing him as well as I did. I could figure out exactly what he was thinking most of the time if I just tried hard enough, and I could easily see how this was upsetting for him, well at least I thought that was it.

"Stupid Tai…" I thought out loud, thinking about how much he was going to hear from me about even thinking I could have actually meant that comment. Of course by now I'd compounded it with my earlier comment, but I'm sure a few minutes of actual talking with Tai would settle things down quite easily.

_And when better to do it than when he's sitting all by himself in one of these rooms…_ I thought to myself, resolving to get up right then and fix things. Before I knew it I was entering back into the main room, which was the center of a rather heated debate.

"I am not going to go off and hide Tai!" Kari yelled rather loudly, right at her older brother who wasn't off secluded like I had thought. She also wasn't the only one having a heated argument.

"I'm staying here Ken. You can't make me go off and hide while you stay behind, so deal with it!" Yolei shouted at Ken, and I was now completely confused. What exactly was going on?

"Uh…What's going on?" I voiced, drawing attention to myself. I felt ever pair of eyes in the room focus on me, and had to smile nervously.

Tai, thankfully, didn't leave me hanging for long.

"A group of us is going to split off, and try to find another way out of the digital world." Tai replied, but was interrupted before he could say anything else.

"What he means to say, is he's trying to send some of us away from the fighting!" Kari said angrily, pointing right at Tai. Now I was completely confused, Tai trying to send some digidestined away from the fight? Splitting up the team?

"I think everyone just needs to cool off for a little bit…" Izzy said from where he was standing towards the back of the room. "I think Tai's just trying to look out for everyone, and it does make sense. The only digimon that seem to even slow down our enemies are WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon, and Magnamon, so it makes sense to get everyone else out of danger."

Izzy made his argument quickly, and it shut everyone up, then Tai stepped forward again.

"I don't want to make any of you feel bad, but you'll be safer if you get away from here, and that's a good thing. Mimi said it perfectly; someone could get hurt seriously, or even killed. It's best if we minimized that as much as possible." Tai's argument had, if anything, even more of an effect than Izzy's did everyone just nodded to his comment, and Tai looked around.

"Ok, Matt, you'll take Mimi, Joe, Kari, T.K., Yolei, Cody," Tai was looking around as he said this, and when his eyes met mine, I looked right into his. He wouldn't send me away, I knew he wouldn't. Even if Garudamon couldn't help too much he wouldn't send me away from him… "And Sora."

I blinked in shock as he said this. He was sending me away, sending me off, and away from him. My face instantly dropped. I just couldn't believe this. He must really feel hurt by my comments to send me away like this.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts I hardly even noticed the preparations for the group that was leaving. No one was really happy about leaving the others behind, but I paid no attention to them, as I was caught up in my own emotion turmoil.

Tai didn't want me around. He wouldn't even look at me as everyone was packing up things to take with them. Before I even knew it, it was time to go, and all of us were heading up the stair well out of Gennai's lake. The four who were remaining behind watched us go.

I didn't say anything to any of the others as we stopped briefly outside the lake, but someone did talk to me.

"Hey Sora, you ok?" It was Matt, checking up on me like the good friend he was, and I decided to be honest with him.

"Not really Matt. How would you feel if your boyfriend just sent you away because he couldn't stand being around you?" I asked bitterly looking back at the lake.

"Sora, what's the matter with you?" Matt asked in a biting tone in response, causing me to turn around. "First you have this stupid and pointless argument with Tai, which is both of you being stupid, and now you think he doesn't want to be with you? Sora, do you forget who we're talking about here? This is TAI! He got so depressed when you wouldn't talk to him that he gave up his emotions! Why would he not want to be with you over one lousy fight!"

Matt's words hit me like an explosion. I looked at him as he continued.

"And another thing! He's not trying to get rid of you; he's trying to get you out of danger, just like he did with Kari!" Matt stopped after that, as my eyes had gotten even wider. "And, I have a girlfriend not a boyfriend!" Matt's last statement ended with a smile, and it took me a second to understand why he said that, then I had to giggle. Despite the seriousness of the dressing down he'd just given me, his last comment was pretty funny.

"Now why don't you start thinking a little bit, and fix things." Matt said in a very serious and quiet voice.

"You're right Matt." I replied, looking between him and the still open stairway to Gennai's. It took me only a second to decide before I was taking off for the stairway. It was going to take more than that to send me away from Tai.

_Well, next chapter should be fun with Sora and Tai having an nice conversation to try and fix their problems. That is, if it's from one of their perspectives…._

_So, today's international review a story day, so be a friend and drop a review!_

_**Next Time:**_

"_Prodigious, it's everything I've ever wanted to know about the digital world's history, and then some…" I said aloud after about five minutes of looking over the material._

"_Of course Izzy. How did you think I found out about the prophecies and hints I gave to you during your first trip to the digital world?" Gennai asked from his terminal._

"_I've honestly never thought about it." I replied truthfully, though I should have. Gennai had always seemed to come through just in the nick of time for us, but I'd never stopped and wondered where he found all of it._

_**Review Replies:**_

_TaioraWarrior: Yea, I would have wanted the ending a little different, but I'm starting to enjoy the abrupt cutting off on everyone…And yea. This fight wasn't originally in the plot, but just sorta sprang up on its own, and is making my life easier, as you see in this chapter. And wait until you see how Sora resolves this…it's going to be quite funny I think. And I like throwing in a little role reversals, just for fun. Plus, then Tai doesn't have to do all of the saving, and Sora isn't just a little weakling (which she isn't)_

_crestoflight3: I'm glad you enjoyed, and yes, there are some major fights coming up, and they'll get quite a bit of focus, some may even span multiple chapters…_

_TogetherAgain: Glad you enjoyed! And look for Tai once more in the near future!_

_Supershooter: maybe just a bit, but I had to do something to get him out of the way, and this wasn't supposed to be an action chapter/it emphasized Piedmon's power right now. He's basically completely unstoppable, and now he knows it. And yea, we got a ways to go…_

_The other Guy: Thanks! And I'm not really sure. I find ideas that interest me, and then make them work. In the course of making them work usually something will come up that makes the story better (like the fight which was written as I wrote the chapter). It's worked for me so far lol. And yea, I had to get Omnimon out of the way, he's too much of an end all. Of course now they need to find some other way to beat Piedmon…I'm glad you liked the disclaimer, and yea, I try, but they are hide to write when you don't like their characters._

_Lachelle92: haha, a few times? Just wait until next week! Lol. And yes, a very smart loser, who doesn't like to lose at all._


	17. Searching for a Solution

_Well, here we are at Sunday, once more! I can almost hear the cheering and what not lol. So before I jump keyboard first into the story I'm going to do some promoting. Any Taiora fans out there, (which I'd assume is most of you) may want to check out TheOmegaman's Tai's Eternal Struggle. It's an interesting and unique Taiora, that actually starts with the pipe dream epilogue. It's definittly worth the read. _

_Last Time: (ok, I know I forgot this last time, my bad!) The digidestined were attempting to recover some at Gennai's after being defeated once more, unfortunately things weren't very peaceful for them. Tai and Sora had once more gotten into a large fight, and the whole situation wasn't very good for any of the digidestined. Then, in the middle of this, Tai decided that the digidestined should split up, so some of them could be safe in the upcoming battle. We left them with the four who elected to stay behind watching the others leave them behind._

**Chapter 17 Searching for a Solution **

Tai

I watched as the door closed, sealing the others off from my own cut down group. Davis, Ken, and Izzy all stood just behind me, watching as the others left as well. I was glad that each of them had volunteered to stay behind.

They were the three that I thought would be best for this upcoming battle, each for different reasons. Davis was one of the most courageous people I knew, and I was certain that we were going to need to be pretty courageous in the coming days. It didn't hurt that Magnamon was the only digimon that had actually fought Piedmon and not been instantly defeated.

Izzy staying was the thing I felt was really going to help the most. Tentomon wasn't the most powerful digimon, but I was starting to think that sheer power wasn't going to win this fight at all. Piedmon had defeated us at every turn, so we were going to have to find some other way to deal with him, and Izzy was the one person who could find that solution.

Ken was more of an enigma to me. I didn't know him that well, since not only was he younger but also lived in a different district than the rest of us digidestined. Davis had spent a lot of time with him during their fights with MaloMyotismon and afterwards, but never around me for some reason. I knew Ken had his own dark past, since he had been used to enslave the digital world at one time, and he was very smart. I hoped that those two things together would allow him to help Izzy in finding a way to stop Piedmon.

I was glad all of them had volunteered to stay behind, since it meant I didn't have to ask them to stay. Of course, I should have realized I'd have more trouble getting some people to leave than getting people to stay.

"Well, I guess that's that." Davis said as I turned back around.

I simply nodded and we all headed deeper into the house, for no reason other than we couldn't think of anything better to do.

I didn't really have anything to say, and I'm sure the others felt the same. Izzy and I were used to having our group get separated at one point or another, since that always seemed to happen to us, but we'd never separated the group on purpose like this. Even though I was the one who'd made the decision, it still didn't feel normal. During our first adventure, it had always been our enemies who'd wanted us to become separated, often times actually separating us from each other, and now, even though I knew it was the right choice, it just felt weird to send some of us away.

Davis and Ken had to feel even weirder. They'd never been separated from their group for any extended amount of time, since they'd never actually stayed in the digital world for a long time, so their enemies had never gotten the opportunity. Even the few times a member of their team stayed behind in the real world for some reason, they almost always joined them later. Now we probably wouldn't see our friends again for quite some time.

I think the particular people I sent away was affecting me nearly as much as the fact that I sent anyone away. Any time I'd ever been to the digital world, I'd never let Kari out of my sight when I could help it, and now I'd sent her away. The only thing that was preventing me form freaking out about her safety was the fact that both Matt and T.K. were with her and would be able to protect her. Well, that and the fact that she was going away from the fighting rather than towards it for once.

Then there was Sora. I'd always done my best to watch out for Sora as well, for a multitude of reasons, and I was going to miss her being here. Sure we were in a fight right now, but that didn't change the fact that I was going to miss her. We hadn't spent a large amount of time away from each other in over half a year now, and I could already tell this wasn't going to be great.

_I almost wish we were arguing right now…_ I thought to myself as we entered into the kitchen portion of Gennai's house. Anything would have been better than the silence we'd had before the group split.

I know that the silence was completely my fault, but that didn't stop me from horrible that we hadn't even said goodbye as they left. She didn't want to talk to me either at the end, completely ignoring me as she prepared to leave, and I knew that was my own fault. I'd pushed her away, and I'd probably end up losing her because of that.

_Especially since she's off with Matt… _A part of me thought, and I literally shook my head at that thought. _That's not fair to Matt at all, he wouldn't do that. _

My mind was all over the place today, but that didn't stop the fact that I'd probably just ruined the best thing that had ever happened to me, and there was nothing I could do about it right now.

"Tai?" A voice interrupted my thoughts and I looked up to see Davis, Izzy, and Ken all looking right at me.

"Sorry, did I miss something?" I asked back.

"No, you just look distracted." Davis replied, leaning back in the chair he was sitting in until it was on two legs.

"Sorry, just thinking about some things." I replied again, hoping my tone made it clear to Davis that I didn't want to talk to him right now.

"Ok, ok, just checking." Davis replied, holding up his hands as he said that. That of course resulted in Davis almost falling backwards as his balance was messed up. We all laughed as Davis caught his balance, and didn't fall to the ground."I meant to do that!"

"Right Davis, just like the last time you fell out of a chair." Ken answered, earning another laugh from Izzy and I.

After a few seconds I stood up, and Izzy and Ken stopped laughing at Davis's expense.

"Ok guys, I just want to take a second and thank each of you for choosing to stay behind…" I started to say, but Davis quickly shot that down.

"Tai, don't thank us. We're all digidestined here. We're supposed to be protecting the digital world." Davis said, and both Izzy and Ken nodded.

"Still, you could have left if you wanted to." I replied.

"We know Tai, now get on with it, what do you think should be our first step?" Izzy replied this time.

"Well, I think we've figured out that directly fighting Piedmon isn't going to work that well…" I started off, earning snorts not only from the humans in the room, but Koromon, DemiVeemon, and Tentomon. "So I was thinking we should come up with some sort of plan."

Davis actually fell out of his chair at this point, while Ken and Izzy, both of whom had been drinking some water at the moment that I said that, spit their water right back out.

"That's your big plan Tai?" Izzy asked after he stopped coughing.

"Hey! I never said I had a plan, other than trying to get some people out of danger!" I replied indignantly. "Anyways, don't you always tell me my plans never work Izzy?"

Izzy opened his mouth to reply, but before he said anything, he stopped, and looked at me thoughtfully. I knew I had him at that point. Izzy just needed his brain to catch up to his instant reaction, but now he saw that I actually knew what I was talking about.

"But where would we start?" Ken asked after a second, apparently coming to the same conclusion as Izzy had on his own.

"I was thinking that Gennai might know something, some prophecy, or a rumor about something that might help us. He's always had something for us before." I replied, looking between Izzy and Ken. They would be the ones who figured out how to stop Piedmon, and then me and Davis would be the ones to do the fighting. It was the perfect fighting group for the digital world, even if I'd rather have some others here with us.

"Sadly Tai, I haven't been able to find anything yet." A fifth voice spoke from the hallway connecting the kitchen and the living areas. Gennai was standing there looking into the kitchen at the four of us and our digimon.

"Nothing Gennai?" I replied, instantly disappointed. I'd been certain that Gennai would come through for us. After we'd arrived at Gennai's home, he'd spent a good amount of his time in his office area, searching for some sort solution to the Piedmon problem. We'd literally only seen him at meals for the couple of days we'd been spending in his home.

"No Tai, I'm afraid I haven't found anything of value, yet." Gennai replied as he sat down across from Izzy. "By the way, where are the others?"

"Uh…" Davis replied before sending a look my way.

"They left." I said simply, preferring to get the truth out rather than beating around the bush. "I wanted to get some of us out of danger, and have them check up on some of our friends across the digital world."

That last bit had been added when I'd talked to Matt and Mimi about where they'd go. Mimi was insistent that they go and check on some of our old friends around the digital world, almost like when she and Joe had left during our first fight with the Dark Masters. I found the idea to be a great one. Not only would our digital friends be able to offer at least a little bit of shelter, some of them could even help protect the others.

"Hmm…" Gennai looked thoughtful at that comment. "Usually to defeat an enemy, the digidestined must all be together."

"We know Gennai, but we were all together, and at full strength, and Piedmon handled us without even breaking a sweat." I replied, having already had that argument with myself for quite a while before I made a decision. "We need to find a way to actually stop Piedmon, and then we can have everybody get back together. Right now, I don't want them getting hurt."

Gennai looked at me for a few minutes, and then nodded.

"Very well," He said, "But we don't even know where to start."

"Well, why don't we all go back to searching your uh…wherever you were searching?" I asked, not actually knowing where or how he had been searching.

"It couldn't hurt Gennai. Who knows, maybe one of us will pick up on something you overlooked?" Izzy added to the conversation. Gennai nodded, and stood up, gesturing back the way he had come.

"This way then."

We all stood up, and started walking towards the hallway when there was a loud bang that ran through the house. The digimon were instantly on alert, jumping off of the table. "

What the…" Davis said turning back, just before the shout.

"TAICHI KAMIYA!" A loud, and very familiar, voice shouted through the house.

I looked towards the sound, and I was very tempted to make a run for it. The only time Sora used my full name was when she was really upset, and the only time she yelled like that was when she was really upset. I'd never seen her do both at the same time, so I was certain this couldn't be good.

I heard something behind me, and I turned to see the others, and the digimon, scampering into the hallway Gennai had used. Davis was the last one out, and turned with a grin I didn't like at all on his face.

"IN THE KITCHEN SORA!" Davis shouted loud enough that he could have been mistaken as me. He then closed the door to the hallway the others had escaped in.

_Damn you Davis, I'll get you back for this… _I thought angrily in Davis's direction as the door behind me opened. Now I know that sounds weird compared to my earlier thoughts about being upset that Sora was gone, but there's a difference between wanting to try and fix things with Sora, or at least talk to her, and what was about to happen to me.

_I should have written a will… _

I turned around to find Sora looking right at me with her hands on her hips, the standard pissed off Sora look.

"Hi." I squeaked, and wanted nothing more than to be somewhere other than the other side of whatever I'd done to piss off Sora.

_Some digidestined of Courage I am…_

"You." Sora said, pointing a finger right at me.

"Me?" I asked back, now confused, she wasn't blowing up at me, and I didn't know why.

"And me." Sora finished. "We're going to talk, now."

"Uh…Ok." I replied, still confused. Then she grabbed me by the shirt and hauled me out of the kitchen. I didn't bother to resist, because, well, Sora would probably make me regret it if I did.

She pulled me into one of the rooms off of the main living room, and pushed me into one of the chairs, then sat down herself across from me. She then proceeded to stare me down, and I'd finally had enough.

"So what are we going to talk about?" I asked to break the silence.

"Don't play stupid with me Taichi." She replied, still using my full name. "We're going to talk about this ridiculous fight."

"What's there to talk about?" I asked, getting instantly defensive. I regretted the words as soon as I said them, but I wasn't going to take them back, that wasn't in my nature.

"Well, how about the fact that we didn't even say goodbye when you sent me away? I'd say that would be a good place to start." Sora replied, and then her expression, which hadn't been a happy one, softened. "Are we really at that point Tai?"

I looked at Sora, and felt the same way she looked, completely down, and a little afraid of the answer. I knew I still loved her, but this whole situation had me confused.

"I don't want to be, but I don't know Sora." I replied, looking up at her finally.

"I don't want to be either Tai, so why are we having this argument?" She asked in response. "I know you want me to figure it out on my own, but I can't. I've been trying, but with you ignoring me like this I can't figure anything out for sure."

I looked at her, and saw the actual pleading in her eyes as she said this. How could I resist that?

"It was back at the digiport." I started to say. "You basically called me a war monger."

"That's it?" Sora asked, and I gave her a look I hoped asked, really?

"Sora how would you feel if I said you hated Biyomon when you tried to keep her from fighting?" I asked the first thing that came to mind that would be the opposite of how she really was.

"Tai, you know me too well to ever say that…" Sora said, and seemed to realize exactly what I was trying to get at. Her hand went right over her mouth as she finished speaking.

"Exactly. I know you too well to ever say that." I said to her, and I was glad that she'd at least figured out what was bothering me. She looked at me for a second, and then leaned across the space between us, and wrapped me up in a hug.

"I'm so sorry Tai." She said quietly into my ear. "I was so out of it that day, I didn't know what I was saying. I'm so sorry."

Those words had a huge effect on me. First off, I never really liked Sora sounding like that, even if she should be sounding like that. She was on the edge of tears, I could tell, and I couldn't stand Sora crying for any reason whatsoever. Second off, she apologized to me, and as I may have noted a time or two before, I'm a huge sucker for apologies, especially if Sora was the one giving them to me. Finally, the situation was cleared up a little bit. Sora hadn't really known what she was saying that day, she'd been as shell shocked as all of the others, she just didn't show it as much as the others had.

That made things much easier for me, since now all of the things in the argument were put into perspective, and honestly they seemed both trivial and stupid.

_You really thought that you might lose her in this fight? You big idiot…_ I thought to myself, and finally answered Sora.

"It's ok Sora," I told her as I hugged her tighter. "I should probably apologize too."

"No you shouldn't, you didn't do anything…"

"But if I'd just talked to you, instead of ignoring you…"

"But I never should have said that…"

"I was being stupid…"

"Well, yea."

The last statement I let go of Sora to see her face, and she was smiling at me.

"We were both stupid, in our own ways." She said, and I nodded, I could agree with that.

"Well, what's important is that we've both figured that out." I replied, and she nodded, pulling me into another embrace. I know nothing had really changed, but I couldn't help but feel like everything was going to be ok.

Izzy

I really did feel like I'd dodged a bullet when we all got out of the kitchen ahead of Sora getting there. I may not know Sora as well as Tai or Matt, but I knew that she only used Tai's full name when she was really mad at him, and it was usually a good idea to avoid an angry Sora.

This whole argument of they were having reminded me so much of the little arguments they'd always get into when they were younger. Usually they were over something stupid, and both of them ended up regretting it after about a week. Hopefully this one didn't cause as much trouble as the hairclip incident had back when we fought Diaboromon.

They hadn't had any really big fight in a long time, which has definitely been a plus since they haven't been trying to get all of us digidestined to pick sides in the arguments. That was always the worst part, for me at least, about them arguing.

Somehow I'd managed to get myself stuck as a neutral person, unlike say Matt or Mimi, so I had an "unbiased" opinion on the argument. So they'd both come to me to get me to agree with them, and I'd get caught in the middle of their arguments.

Even as friends their arguments would be stressful for me, I didn't want to think what their arguments as a couple would be like. I actually shuddered a little bit at that thought, which attracted Davis's attention away from the door, where he was trying to see what Tai and Sora were doing.

"What's the matter Izzy, afraid that Sora's going to hurt Tai?" Davis asked with a laugh, and I shook my head.

"No, well, maybe a bit, but that's not it." I replied, but Davis, as usual, only focused on part of what I said.

"Don't worry Izzy, they love each other, Sora won't really hurt Tai." Davis told me, and I just nodded rather than getting into a conversation with him. Love.

Love was far too troublesome of a thing for me to really ever understand. How could something that was supposed to be so good for a person cause people to act so stupid? If Tai and Sora had just stopped and thought about what they were doing and saying, then they probably wouldn't be in the situation they were in now, and everyone would be happier.

Hopefully they worked out their problems now, because I didn't think we could really afford to have our leader emotionally distressed from this during what was coming up.

As much as Tai tried not to boss the rest of us around, we really needed him to. I'm not going to say he always makes the right choice, but he makes decisions and keeps us going, which is pretty important.

"Maybe we should go down to Gennai's office and get to work?" Ken asked a few seconds after Davis fell silent.

"Aww, but I wanted to listen to this…" Davis whined gesturing towards the door.

"Davis, Ken's right. We really should get to work; otherwise we might never get home." I told the younger boy. It was odd being with him and Ken right now. In the digital world I'd always been one of the younger digidestined, really only being older than T.K. during our first trip here, and now I was the oldest among us. Of course it had been the same any of the times I'd figured something out for the younger group, but for some reason it was intensified here in the digital world.

Maybe it was the fact that I was back in an outfit similar to the one I'd worn back during that first trip, or a lack of our rather uncomfortable school uniform, but I felt more out of place as the oldest here.

"Oh, alright." Davis said, with some disappointment. We walked down the hall into the same room where Gennai had first told us about Piedmon's return. Most of it was still the same as it had been that day, but the map of the digital world was far different.

Before there had been four different sections, each a different color, and covered most of one of the cardinal directions. After learning about the Harmonious Ones, I'd assumed that each area represented their territory. Now though the map was devoid of those colors. At the center of each of those areas a deep crimson was slowly spreading outwards in all directions.

"What happened here…" I wondered aloud as I stood at the map.

"Piedmon." Gennai replied from his desk across the room. "When he imprisoned the Harmonious Ones he destroyed their healing powers, and the light that each one of them cast across the digital world. Since then darkness has slowly been spreading across each of their territories."

"Oh man, when I get my hands on that creepy clown…" Davis muttered behind me, and as I looked back he was focused completely on the map.

I'd never seen Davis focus on something as hard as he was now. I guess there was some truth to what Tai had been telling me about Davis.

Tai had been telling me for months that Davis actually had a serious side to him, and I'd never really believed him. I knew Davis took his responsibilities as a digidestined, and the leader of the younger generation, seriously, but he never showed that he was serious about it. Any of the times I'd found something out for the younger group he'd been mostly jokes, even when it dealt with him. Apparently there was more to this kid than I originally thought.

"We need to figure out a way to stop him first, Davis." Ken said, patting his friends shoulder.

Davis nodded, and turned to Gennai.

"Ok, where do we start?"

Gennai set about splitting the three of us up, so that we could work in the office. Now that he showed us exactly what all of the different devices in his office were, I was even more impressed. The technology in the room put most of my dream offices to shame. The computers had direct access to the history of the digital world, since all of it was digital memory.

In addition to the multiple computer terminals that Gennai had spread around the office there was a pretty large library of hardbound books, all of which had to do with the digital world. The amount of information in this office was literally staggering to even comprehend.

Davis was placed on looking though the different bound books, since even he would have trouble destroying them. Ken and I both set up at the other research stations besides Gennai's desk and started looking through all of the files.

The files on the computer seemed to be optimized for searching through them, and most of them seemed to pertain to digital history and myths from the past.

"Prodigious, it's everything I've ever wanted to know about the digital world's history, and then some…" I said aloud after about five minutes of looking over the material.

"Of course Izzy. How did you think I found out about the prophecies and hints I gave to you during your first trip to the digital world?" Gennai asked from his terminal.

"I honestly never thought about it." I replied truthfully, though I should have. Gennai had always seemed to come through just in the nick of time for us, but I'd never stopped and wondered where he found all of it.

Gennai just nodded at me, and bent back down over his terminal, and I turned back to my own, pulling up another file.

_If we keep going through these one at a time, it'll take us years to find something useful… _I thought to myself as I closed another useless file.

_What we need is a good search…_ I thought once more, and did a quick look over the interface, hoping to find somewhere to input a search request. Just as I was about to give up, movement caught my eye in one corner of the screen, and as I looked there was a search bar there.

_That wasn't there before. _I thought as I looked at the bar. _Oh well, best not to waste time._

I input a fairly obvious search request into the search engine, how to defeat Piedmon.

It actually worked, but the result wasn't what I was hoping for. It was rather a simple phrase: Introduce him to a rather angry MagnaAngemon.

I could see that the entry was written by Gennai, and added only a few years before.

_So much for that idea…_ I thought as I leaned back to think of some other useful search.

"Ah! Tai, get off!" Davis suddenly shouted, and we all turned to see Davis, in a headlock with Tai standing behind him holding him there while Sora watched.

"I'll teach you to sell me out and run away!" Tai replied as he brought his free arm around and proceeded to give Davis a noogie. I knew from experience that those were not a pleasant experience.

A few seconds later and Tai had let Davis free, laughing as the younger boy held his head. Then Sora proceeded to punch Tai in the arm.

"Hey! What was that for?" Tai asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"You shouldn't be so mean to Davis." Sora said, shaking a head. Looking at the expressions on their faces I could tell they'd made up, which was probably a good thing for all of us, at least in the long run. I turned back to trying to figure out a good search, and was still in the process of doing that when I felt someone behind me.

Sora was looking over my shoulder as Tai was over working with Davis now.

"What are you looking at Izzy?" She asked, and I turned around from the work station.

"I'm trying to figure out a good search for something to help us in Gennai's files." I replied, and Sora nodded.

"I'm assuming you tried how to beat Piedmon?"

"Yea, it just referenced our battle with him." I replied, smiling at the answer I'd seen.

"Yea, too bad we couldn't find a way to make MagnaAngemon stronger, then we'd have the same situation as back then." Sora said wistfully, but it sparked an idea in my mind.

What if we could make our digimon stronger? Get all of them up to the Mega level? Then we could possibly take Piedmon on, with twelve Megas he wouldn't stand a chance.

I turned around while Sora was still talking, quickly inputting increasing power into the search engine.

The first dozen or so things dealt with the Crests and Digivices, but towards the bottom of the group...

"I've got it!" I shouted as I stood up, getting everyone else's attention.

"What did you get Izzy?" Tai asked from the book shelf.

"An answer to Piedmon!"

_Gah! What is this answer? And what's going on with the other group? Find out next time, on my story…Sorry guys, it just didn't feel right for some reason saying digimon, digital monsters lol._

_OH, before I forget, there's a poll on my profile that you'll probably be interested in, so go check it out, please!_

_**Next Time: ** "Run Faster!" Magnamon shouted at us as we hightailed it into the structure that we'd come across in the woods. "Giga Sea Destroyer!" Several energy blasts hit just a little ways in front of me, pretty close to Izzy, who was leading the group. The red haired boy recoiled from the blasts, but was forced forward by Tai and Ken, who were right behind him. "Magna Blast!" Magnamon fired back, but all that was heard was a metal clanging from where it hit our pursuer. Up ahead, in the side of the structure we were running for, WarGreymon emerged from the giant hole that his impact into the building had caused, shaking his head as if he was still a little disoriented._

_**Review Replies:**_

_Punkagumon: Thanks! Hope you enjoy!_

_LyraXEthan: Thanks!_

_TaioraWarrior: So this might be my shortest reply to you ever, since we already talked about your review mostly, so thanks! And that's it! Lol_

_Matani: So, this sounds horrible but I forgot if I review responded to you, so I'm just going to go back over all of your review. Sorry if you're hearing the same stuff again. So first off thanks, that's a huge compliment you gave me. It's exactly what I was striving for in this story, so I'm glad you feel that I go that. I'm glad you think that everything is coming together well, I thought so myself ,and it's always god to hear that from others. And I wouldn't worry about Cody and Yolei, just yet, or just which mega/other digimon you'll see in this story. It's all up in the air! Lol_

_Supershooter: Yep, of course now that one problem is fixed something else will come up and just ruin everyone's day._

_TogetherAgain: yep, a little resolving for everyone, (other than Davis, who, just got a noogie lol). And hope the wait wasn't too terrible._

_Lachelle92: Separating was Tai's plan. Now let's look at the history of digimon. When has separating been good? Never. When have Tai's plans worked? Never. So what does that tell us about this one? Lol and thanks!_

_The other Guy : Thanks! Glad someone's surprised! And yes Tai made sense, but was it for the right reasons? Lol you only just now Somewhere I Belong? Man you must have been really confused the first chapter or two! Haha thanks though! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Yea, the update sometimes makes my life difficult, but I'm committed to it. And yes, last chapter was a little short, about 200 words below the 5000 word line I shoot for every chapter, but that's happened several times before. Last week I think the paragraphs were a little longer than normal, making it seem shorter since it didn't take up as much space._


	18. The Search

_Well, I'm sure someone's been panicking because I'm posting this so late on a Sunday, but…you know, sometimes even I get busy, or have a tough time with a chapter. Either way, here is your new chapter, enjoy! _

_**Disclaimer: **I do own digimon. Really! That's why I'm posting on fanfiction. That makes perfect sense!_

_**L****ast Time: **__With most of the digidestined leaving to find a safer location, Tai, Davis, Izzy, and Ken were all getting ready to start searching for a solution to the whole Piedmon problem. That's when Sora came back, locked herself and Tai into a room, and had a little conversation about their fight. They eventually worked everything out, and are back to normal somewhat. While that was going on the others were all searching Gennai's library for a solution, which Izzy apparently found!_

**Chapter 18 The Search (Part 1)**

_Davis_

"Run Faster!" Magnamon shouted at us as we hightailed it into the structure that we'd come across in the woods.

"Giga Sea Destroyer!" Several energy blasts hit just a little ways in front of me, pretty close to Izzy, who was leading the group. The red haired boy recoiled from the blasts, but was forced forward by Tai and Ken, who were right behind him.

"Magna Blast!" Magnamon fired back, but all that was heard was a metal clanging from where it hit our pursuer.

Up ahead, in the side of the structure we were running for, WarGreymon emerged from the giant hole that his impact into the building had caused, shaking his head as if he was still a little disoriented.

"WarGreymon! Door!" Tai shouted towards his partner, gaining his attention. A pair of Divermon were standing at the top of the stairs that we were just starting to dash up.

WarGreymon jumped forward and landed between the two just as Izzy, Tai, and Ken reached the top of the stairs. WarGreymon threw out his arms as he landed right between the Divermon, hitting the two digimon with such force that they were sent flying. Seconds later we were all rushing in through the door, and I was bringing up the rear.

"Magnamon!" I shouted out to my partner, who was nowhere to be seen. Instead I saw our gigantic attacker, who was taking aim at me as I looked at him.

"Giga Sea Destroyer!" Several blasts fired right at me, but before they could hit me something very solid and shining tackled me into the structure. I felt several bone jarring impacts as we crashed into the structure, and then all the light went out in the room. Magnamon picked himself up from where he'd tackled me, filling the room with a faint golden glow.

I looked around at the others, both human and digimon, around me, and said exactly what was on my mind.

"Well, that could have gone better."

~Earlier~

Things started off so well. Tai and Sora had stopped their fight and seemingly made up. Of course, almost as soon as that was over, they were fighting again, but this time it was at least something worth fighting over.

Tai didn't want Sora to come into battle with us, and of course Sora wanted to come with us because she hated to be sitting on the sidelines. That led to quite a bit of shouting and arguing, which wasn't even broken up by Gennai and Izzy pinpointing the location of the first tablet. Ops, getting ahead of myself here.

Let's backtrack a little bit. Right after Tai and Sora had stopped fighting, Izzy found something that could let us beat Piedmon. It was called the Digimental.

According to what Izzy told us, and yes, I was actually able to completely pay attention to him, it had the power to allow all of our digimon to reach their Mega level. That at least was what the legend said. Of course, to do something that awesome, it also had a huge downside. In the wrong hands, this Digimental could power evil digimon to a whole new level, something beyond Mega apparently.

I really hoped Piedmon didn't know about this thing, because we already couldn't come close to stopping that demented clown, if he got even stronger we'd be finished.

Anyways, Gennai had never told us about this thing because it didn't appear to really exist. No one had ever found it or used it at any time during the digital world's recorded history, and Gennai wasn't even sure where to start looking for it. Izzy however had a solution to that.

He showed us all this nice diagram thing, and then I kinda drifted off. I'm sure whatever he had to say was important, but I just couldn't help it. Eventually, after the yelling started, Ken filled me in on Izzy's discovery of a tablet that could lead us to the Digimental.

The tablet was held in a temple not far from the ocean, and should be rather simple to go after and retrieve. Of course, with us things never were simple, though at the time I figured it would be Tai and Sora who made it harder than it could have been.

"Ok, so we'll go check this place out and see what this tablet says." Tai said after everyone had been caught back up from the spacing out caused by Izzy's talk. "First though, we need to get Sora back out to Matt's group."

"What?" Sora asked in response to this statement.

"Uh oh…" DemiVeemon and I said in unison as Sora turned towards Tai.

"You're not just going to send me away again, I'm staying here!" Sora said, much calmer than I thought she would.

"Sora, I thought we already talked about this." Tai replied, and I did my best to look like I wasn't paying attention to the conversation. "I want you to be somewhere safe."

"Well Tai, I want, no I need to be here with you." Sora replied, a stern expression on her face.

"I…Sora." Tai didn't seem to have a response to that, and luckily for him Izzy spoke up at this moment.

"I don't think it really matters, the others are already a good distance away." Izzy said, holding up his D-Terminal, which was showing the locations of the other digidestined, a good distance away from where we were.

"Ha!" Sora shouted, looking at Tai, all seriousness that she'd had a second before disappearing. "I win!"

That of course just started the immature portion of their argument, which, I may have, uh…help along a little bit…

"Come on Tai! Don't take that from her!" I shouted to my friend as Sora seemed to gain the upper hand in the argument. That earned me a glare from Sora, while Koromon and DemiVeemon cheered me on.

I just couldn't help shouting. Tai and Sora's arguments, when they weren't about something serious, were like a spectator sport. You couldn't help but take sides, and cheer one of them on.

Of course, it almost always ended badly for me when I did cheer one of them (Tai) on, because the other (Sora) would always extract some form of revenge, but I couldn't help myself.

This one lasted an unusually long amount of time, so long in fact, the rest of us had time to go into the kitchen and have lunch. Tai and Sora eventually joined us, having become tired of arguing. After lunch they resumed their arguing, having regained energy from the meal that they ate, and the rest of us just sorta went around doing our own thing.

I alternated between watching Tai and Sora go at it, and trying to figure out what Izzy and Ken were doing. They were trying to pinpoint the exact location of the temple where the tablet thingy was located, and a good way to get there since the digiports were closed across the digital world.

Honestly, I was really bored. Tai and Sora's argument had turned into a serious conversation, so it was now boring, and well, Izzy and Ken had never really been the most entertaining people, at least when they were trying to figure stuff out. So, that left me and the digimon bored in the middle of Gennai's house, which could have ended really badly.

"Let's see what you got." I said, looking at the digimon sitting around me. All of us were holding some cards, and sitting around a table. I'd gotten the digimon to play cards, which surprisingly they all already knew how to play. The only bad thing was the fact that we didn't have any chips, so we weren't really able to play for anything.

"Two sevens!" DemiVeemon, a long time player of poker since he lived with me, said. The other three digimon all looked at him for a second.

"Go Fish." Koromon said to DemiVeemon as he held his cards with his ear things.

"What?" DemiVeemon and I asked in unison, looking at the small pink ball.

"Go Fish, you have to pick up another card." Koromon replied, looking at the two of us. "Don't you know how to play cards?"

I looked at Koromon, then back at DemiVeemon and let out a laugh. Apparently I should have done a better job explaining what I meant by cards to the digimon, because they had apparently learned a different card game.

"Koromon, who told you we were playing go fish?" I asked the in-training digimon.

"Well, what other card games are there?" The digimon asked innocently, and I had to hide my smile. I had a new victim.

"Well, there are lots of them, like…" I started to reply, but was cut off by a shout from the other room.

"Davis!" Tai shouted, calling for me, and I jumped up instantly. Hopefully that meant that they'd figured out where we were going, and how we were going to get there. Hanging with the digimon was fun, and teaching Koromon and the others how to play poker would have been even more fun, but I was read y to get into some action, or at least closer to getting home. I'm sure Zoe missed me.

_That's odd…_ I thought to myself as I realized what I had just thought. Usually I didn't really think about Zoe here in the digital world, after all, I'd be back to her in a few hours when things were normal, but recently I had been thinking about her a lot, and I mean a lot.

Most of the time we'd spent resting over the last couple of days I'd been worried about what Zoe was doing, or thinking about. In fact, this card game had been the first thing that really drove her from my mind over the last couple of days

. _If only there was some way I could let her know what was going on…_ I thought to myself. That was a big worry for me, that she wouldn't know what was going on, and why I hadn't responded to any of her texts, or phone calls, or emails, or instant messages, or facebook chats.

I also found myself imagining that she'd jump to the worst conclusion, and hate me forever, and then I talked myself out of it. And then back into it, and then out of it again, and then…ok, I think you get the idea.

_Too bad I couldn't just use the D-Terminal, like we used to do way back when…_ I thought to myself as I stood up. Then brilliance struck me.

…_I could use the D-Terminal!_ I thought, quickly pulling out said device. I didn't have her email on my D-Terminal, but I had it memorized, so it didn't matter. A few seconds later and the email was on its way across the internet, and I went to find out what Tai was calling me for.

I entered the kitchen area to find everyone else scattered around looking back and forth between Tai and Sora.

"What's up?" I asked, announcing my presence to the room. "Are we leaving yet?"

"Yes! Now that someone's done being immature!" Sora replied for everyone.

"Uh oh…" Izzy and Ken said this time as Tai turned around.

"You're done being immature?" He asked Sora, and things were really about to get out of control, I could tell.

_Man…now I need some popcorn…_ I thought thinking how much more entertaining this would be with some food. Then, true to my nature I did the worst, and best, thing I could do.

"So, has anyone seen any popcorn around here?" I asked, looking at Izzy and Ken, but getting Sora and Tai's attention.

"I haven't seen any…" Izzy replied nervously, while Ken was frozen by the expressions on Tai and Sora's faces.

"Davis, why do you want popcorn?" Sora asked quietly. That's when I finally noticed the fact that she and Tai had stopped fighting, and they were looking right at me.

"Uh…" I replied, realizing that Sora at least wouldn't find it amusing that I found their arguments amusing. "…I'm hungry?"

"Really Davis? I thought you only liked popcorn when you had something good to watch." A small voice spoke up from behind me. The digimon had followed me into the kitchen, with DemiVeemon in the lead. "That's what you told Jun when she asked if you wanted some last week."

"Something good to watch?" Sora asked, and I was absolutely certain that steam was blowing out of her ears as she looked at me.

"Uh oh…" I replied as Sora stepped forward, then I bolted, running to the far side of the room.

"Get back here Davis!" Sora shouted after me as I ducked behind Izzy and Ken.

"Tai! Help me!" I shouted out towards my mentor, who was leaning back in his chair, a grin on his face.

"Sorry Davis, you're on your own this time." He replied. "I know better than to piss Sora off that much."

"Really, what about that time with the hairclip?" Izzy asked as I dove from behind him and Ken, since Sora was moving around them. I noticed Tai fall out of his chair as Izzy's question shocked him.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO BRING THAT UP!" Tai shouted, as he got out of his chair. At this point Sora finally caught up with me, and got me into a fairly good headlock, and proceeded to give me the worst noogie of my life. I knew finally where Tai had learned to give noogies from, and I was anything but pleased.

"What is all this noise?" A voice cut through the room, and everyone stopped mid whatever they were doing to look at Gennai, who was staring at all of us. This was a great relief for me, since my head got a little rest from the pain.

"Uh…" Somebody replied. "Friendly conversation?"

"Well, dial it down some. Some of us are trying to find a way to save the digital world!" Gennai replied before turning and leaving the room and all of us in silence.

Tai was the first to recover, standing up from where he had been siting.

"Gennai's right, we've all been acting a little immature…" He started to say, but was cut off by a cough coming from Ken's direction. "Ok, some of us have been acting immature. The others, and the whole digital world, are counting on us to stop Piedmon. We should get to it." Tai turned to Izzy and Ken "Do we have that temple located yet?"

Izzy nodded quickly, turning his laptop around so everyone could see.

"Ok, good work." Tai replied, and then turned to Sora. "Look, Sora, you know I don't want you to come with us, because it'll be dangerous, but I know you'll just follow us if we leave you behind," Sora muttered something under her breath that I could have sworn sounded like damn straight. Then Tai continued, "So you can come with us." Sora had a huge grin on her face as he said that, "But I want you to promise to stay back, so you are safe."

Sora looked at Tai for a moment, and then nodded, which surprised me. I had expected her to argue at least a little bit, but she hadn't at all. Weird. After that we got ready to head out.

That was another weird thing for me, and I'm pretty sure everyone else. My age group usually had just gone into the digital world, and helped out wherever we ended up through the digiport. We never spent days or even hours planning out what we did; we just went and did it. The closest we'd ever been to something like this was when we went after Ken to finally stop him, when he'd been the digimon emperor. Even then we'd sorta just gone in, and improvised as we went. The most complex plan we had was breaking into his base, and Izzy had planned that one out pretty much on the spot, with a little help from Cody.

For the older kids it had to be just as strange. They hadn't even had the luxury of deciding when they went into the digital world; they got sucked in by a giant sand storm or something like that. Then they'd had to travel across the whole world trying to find a way home. That couldn't have been easy at all. At least I got to sleep in my own bed pretty much every night, even if I was sore beyond any reasonable thought.

Now we were doing all of this planning, and what not, and I couldn't help but wonder if maybe doing things the old way would turn out better. Of course, it could just as easily be worse, I don't think I really wanted to know how, but it always could be.

So anyways, getting back to everything, we all headed out a little while later, taking some provisions from Gennai's house in case we were gone longer than a few hours, which seemed decently likely, I mean, we were traveling to the sea, to some giant temple. Who knew how long that would end up taking?

We decided to use MegaKabuterimon as our main transportation, mostly because he could actually carry everyone, so no one else would have to use their energy just to ferry us across the digital world.

It felt great to go flying again, even if it was on the back of a giant bug who didn't seem to enjoy doing any of the fun stuff in the sky that ExVeemon would do. Of course, the fact that he was a little bit bigger and less agile probably didn't help things in the least.

So the trip passed in relative ease. Izzy tried to explain some more of what we were looking for, and for once I actually tried to pay attention. After all, there wasn't really anything else to do on the back of a giant bug, especially since there wasn't really anywhere that I could sleep, at least without falling off.

"So here's everything I could find out about this Digimental that we're going after." Izzy started after Tai asked about it. "When the digital world was first made there was a fifth Harmonious One, the most powerful of them, and their leader. His name was Fanglongmon."

"Wait, there was another Harmonious One?" Sora shouted as we all sat around Izzy, straining to hear anyone over the rushing air around us.

"Yes." Izzy replied simply.

"Then where is he now?" Tai asked, finishing off the question that Sora had obviously been about to ask.

"Well, legend says that a great evil rose up, seven evil digimon, each one with the ability to defeat one of the four Harmonious Ones we know of. Fanglongmon was the only one of the Harmonious One's who could stand up to these digimon." Izzy replied, looking around at all of us. "The battle lasted for days, and even then, the only thing that Fanglongmon could do was imprison all of them in an alternative world. A dark world from which there was no escaping, even for these powerful digimon."

"Sounds rough to me." I said as I leaned back against MegaKabuterimon.

"Well, they were evil digimon bent on destroying the digital world, we wouldn't want to be rough on them." Tai replied his voice laced with sarcasm. That earned him a laugh from those gathered around us, and I just looked down, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Anyways, what happened to Fanglongmon? He sounds like someone we could use around right now." Sora asked as the laughter died down.

"Well, according to the legend Fanglongmon was completely drained from the battle, so drained that he could no longer hold onto his physical form at all." Izzy replied, looking down at the laptop. "He channeled all of his energy into one of his Digicores, and then disappeared, except for the Digicore."

"So that's it? He just disappeared?" I asked, entering back into the conversation.

"Yes, and no." Izzy replied, and from the look on his face, I could tell I wasn't going to be able to understand what he was about to say. "When he channeled all of his energy into the Digicore, it changed, and became the only remaining manifestation of Fanglongmon. It has both his life force, and all of his power within it."

"So, it's like his digiegg?" Sora asked, and I guess that sorta made sense, or at least sounded right.

"No, a digiegg holds a digimon's memories and life force, but not the power of their old level. Fanglongmon will never be reborn, at least as far as I can tell, but he left the Digimental behind in case another undefeatable evil arose, and no one could stop it." Izzy replied, and of course I chimed in.

"So exactly like Piedmon!" I stated, earning groans from Tai and Sora, a nod from Izzy, and cheers from the in-training digimon.

"Right Davis." Izzy said, over the noise everyone created. "The Digimental can give us the power to stop Piedmon, but, despite the fact that it contains Fanglongmon's life force, it cannot distinguish between good and evil digimon who use it, therefore we have to find it before Piedmon decides to go looking for it."

"Well that should be easy! He doesn't even know about it, let alone where to start looking for it. I mean we hadn't even heard about this Digimental thing until we searched Gennai's library after all." I replied with confidence, and I was finally glad for a break from having to race against the bad guys. These guys would have been even worse than when we tried to beat BlackWarGreymon to all of the Destiny Stones.

"Let's hope that it's that easy Davis." Ken said, speaking up for the first time that trip.

"Oh, you worry too much Ken." I replied, slapping him on the shoulder.

"I think we're here!" MegaKabuterimon shouted back to us, and everyone instantly forgot everything but the need to look forward to our destination. We descended quickly, and before too long we were once more on solid ground, looking around in wonder.

The area we were in was easily one of the most beautiful places I'd ever been, in either world. It was a large meadow like area, surrounded by trees on three sides, and with a large beach on the fourth side. A decent distance away from the beach, but still facing it, was a large stone structure, with a large staircase leading up it. None of this really does justice to the place, but it was so peaceful there, I just wanted to stay there forever.

"Wow, this place is amazing!" Sora was the first to speak as we all took in the sights around us.

"You said it Sora!" Biyomon replied as she looked around while hovering in the air.

"Glad everyone likes it…is it nap time yet?" Motimon asked before falling right to the ground, and right asleep. The poor little guy looked completely exhausted.

"So, should we head to the temple?" Sora asked, looking between the beach and the temple.

"We probably should…" Tai replied, also looking between the two. "…But, what's the rush? I mean, it's not like Piedmon will be looking for us way out here anyways, so we could take a little time to relax and stretch after that long flight."

"Uh…" Izzy looked at Tai just as all the digimon cheered at his comment. "Don't you think we should keep moving for now Tai?"

"What's the harm Izzy?" Tai replied looking around until his gaze fell upon the sleeping Motimon. "I mean. Motimon isn't in any condition to get us back to Gennai's right away, so we might as well relax before we go and get the tablet, rather than after."

Izzy looked like he was going to respond to Tai's comment, but Tai's perfect logic shut him down.

_Score for team goggles!_ I thought to myself as Tai shot a glance my way. We both knew how hard it was to score points against Izzy and Ken, and right then Tai had just scored a major one for us.

"I…guess that makes sense." Izzy replied, and a second later Tai had taken off, running right for the beach. I guess he was a little excited for the water. I chased after him of course, after all I couldn't let him have all the fun. Afterwards I wished that I'd gone a little bit slower, because it would have saved me quite a bit of pain/un-comfortableness.

The water was absolutely freezing, like I mean worse than the ocean in the winter type of freezing, and it felt like the summer here! It was completely ridiculous, and it didn't feel good at all.

"AHHHHHHH!" I shouted as I ran into the ocean, and just as quickly out of it. Tai had a bit more momentum than me, and got farther out by the time he was able to turn around. The two of us threw ourselves onto the warm sand around the beach in an attempt to heat ourselves up. We were of course helped by the laughter coming from Sora as she watched the two of us try to heat ourselves up.

"Well, I'm glad I let you two win that race." Sora said with a laugh, and any response I was going to say was cut off by Izzy.

"Hey! I'm getting a transmission from Gennai!" He shouted, gaining everyone's attention. Everyone rushed over to where he was, and looked down at his laptop.

After we returned to Gennai's we were able to hear the whole message, which went like this:

"Digidestined, I've just found out some terrible news. Piedmon has resurrected the other three dark masters, only each is more powerful than before. MetalSeadramon's new form, GigaSeadramon is patrolling the ocean near your location, and can detect anyone entering the ocean, so do not enter the ocean!"

At the time, this is what we actually heard.

"Digide…I've…und…t so…rible ne...dmon…resurrect…her…dar…ters…each…power…before. Metal…form…Seadramon…ocean…ation…detect any…it…do….ente…cean!"

"What the…Izzy, can you make that any clearer?" Tai asked as the broken and static filled transmission cut off.

"I don't know Tai, it's pretty messed up." Izzy replied, replaying the message again, with the same quality in it.

I listened, and wondered if maybe Michael had somehow made it into the digital world. After all, his partner was Seadramon.

"Hey, maybe Michael made it into the digital world!" I exclaimed while Izzy tried to get more out of the message.

"How does that even make sense Davis?" Izzy asked while he typed away at his computer.

"Well, he did mention Seadramon, and that's Michael's partner." I replied, feeling that I had to be right in this case.

"Yea, but Michael and Seadramon can't get here for the same reasons we can't go home, the portals are all closed, so that's not what Gennai meant…" Izzy trailed off in his last word, and replayed the last part of the message once more, and his eyes got huge. "Tai…"

"Yea, what is it Izzy?" Tai replied.

"I don't think that Gennai was referring to Michael's Seadramon in his transmission." Izzy replied, a look I'd never seen on his face before appearing there.

"Uh, ok." Tai replied, and then he got a good look at Izzy. "Is that a problem Izzy?"

"I think so Tai." Izzy replied, "He said the word Metal in the part right before that."

"Seadramon and metal?" Tai asked, and then his eyes went wide. "MetalSeadramon!"

Izzy nodded jerkily, but I was confused.

"What's MetalSeadramon?" I asked, and Tai turned to look at me.

"One of the Dark Master, along with Piedmon. We really don't want to mess with MetalSeadramon if we can avoid it." Tai replied.

"Don't worry, you won't have to deal with MetalSeadramon, digidestined!" A voice shouted, coming from the ocean. All of us turned, and I saw a giant metal encased sea serpent, flying over the water, right for us. "Now you'll have to deal with GigaSeadramon! Giga Sea Destroyer!"

Several energy blasts flew out of his mouth as he flew right at us, and our digimon jumped in front of us, just as our Crests and digivices started to glow.

"Koromon digivolve to! Agumon! Agumon warp digivolve to! WarGreymon!"

"DemiVeemon digivolve to! Veemon! Veemon Golden Armor Digivolve to! Magnamon!"

"Biyomon digivolve to! Birdramon! Birdramon digivolve to! Garudamon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to! Stingmon! Stingmon digivolve to! JewelBeemon!"

WarGreymon jumped to the front of the group with his Brave Shield out to catch the energy blasts from GigaSeadramon, and was sent flying into the temple, a distance behind us.

"Magnamon!" I shouted up to my partner, who jumped forward towards the giant sea serpent.

"Magnum Punch!" Magnamon charged up some energy in his fist, and then hit GigaSeadramon below his mouth, sending the digimon slightly off course. "Magna Blast!" He followed up with blasts of plasma from his armor, which covered GigaSeadramon in explosions.

We waited until…

"Giga Sea Destroyer!" Several blasts flew out of the smoke that had covered GigaSeadramon, all of which Magnamon barely managed to avoid. The digimon appeared out of the smoke, and looked like he had hardly been damaged at all.

"You call those things attacks? My mother could hit harder than you do!" GigaSeadramon taunted as he charged up for another attack.

"We need WarGreymon to take this guy out. His Dramon destroyers would wreck his day…" Tai said, as he looked back for his partner.

"I don't think we have that option right now!" Izzy replied as Magnamon and GigaSeadramon traded attacks. None of Magnamon's attacks seemed to be able to break his armor, but GigaSeadramon couldn't hit Magnamon. That's when several MegaSeadramon burst of out of the water around GigaSeadramon.

"Uh oh…" I said seeing those digimon. Even with Garudamon and JewelBeemon as back up, there were way too many enemies for us to fight, especially this close to the sea.

"Everyone run!" Tai shouted, and none of us needed telling twice. Garudamon and JewelBeemon jumped up ahead to keep us covered in the front, while Magnamon held off GigaSeadramon and the MegaSeadramon behind us.

"Run Faster!" Magnamon shouted at us as we hightailed it into the structure that we'd come across in the woods.

"Giga Sea Destroyer!" Several energy blasts hit just a little ways in front of me, pretty close to Izzy, who was leading the group. The red haired boy recoiled from the blasts, but was forced forward by Tai and Ken, who were right behind him. The MegaSeadramon didn't seem to have their master's ability to float over land, which was only a small relief.

"Magna Blast!" Magnamon fired back, but all that was heard was a metal clanging from where it hit our pursuer. His attacks were still useless against GigaSeadramon's armor.

Up ahead, in the side of the structure we were running for, WarGreymon emerged from the giant hole that his impact into the building had caused, shaking his head as if he was still a little disoriented.

"WarGreymon! Door!" Tai shouted towards his partner, gaining his attention. A pair of Divermon were standing at the top of the stairs that we were just starting to dash up.

WarGreymon jumped forward and landed between the two just as Izzy, Tai, and Ken reached the top of the stairs. WarGreymon threw out his arms as he landed right between the Divermon, hitting the two digimon with such force that they were sent flying. Garudamon and JewelBeemon landed on either side of WarGreymon, and dedigivolved, since they were too large to fit in the temple.

Seconds later we were all rushing in through the door, and I was bringing up the rear.

"Magnamon!" I shouted out to my partner, who was nowhere to be seen. Instead I saw GigaSeadramon, who was taking aim at me as I looked at him.

"Giga Sea Destroyer!" Several blasts fired right at me, but before they could hit me something very solid and shining tackled me into the structure. I felt several bone jarring impacts as we crashed into the structure, and then all the light went out in the room.

Magnamon picked himself up from where he'd tackled me, filling the room with a faint golden glow. I looked around at the others, both human and digimon, around me, and said exactly what was on my mind.

"Well, that could have gone better."

_Well, there you go. Hope you enjoyed everything, and are getting ready for the endgame…that should come in like 10 chapters or something like that! Until next week!_

_**Next Time:**_

_"Look! A Diner!" Mimi shouted as we all continued along the road._

_"It looks just like the one we were at when I found my digiegg!" Yolei exclaimed as it also came into view of it. The other younger generation kids also said good things about it, but I couldn't._

_"Uh…Matt, is it just me, or does that diner look a lot like…" Joe asked me as we looked at the diner._

_"Yea, Joe," I replied, cutting him off. "It looks exactly like Digitamamon's diner."_

_**Review Replies:**_

_TheOmegaMan: Really? You liked that part? It was one of my favorites as well! And no problem! Thanks for the extra three reviews! Lol_

_Matani: lol, well technically, the megas won't be in it until they get closer, but yes, it is what will happen in this story…a good way to end the battle with Piedmon…or is it? I think I answered your question pretty well. And yea, no problems like that this time. This chapter wasn't easy for me to put together, but I got it done, before my deadline._

_TaioraWarrior: lol yea, I think the others and Tai were all a little afraid for his life, but all's well that ends well._

_LyraXEthan: Was your question answered in this chapter? If not, the answer is…a magical stone that makes everyone digivolve! Yay!_

_Odinson83:Thanks! I know, not super remarkable, but it was necessary._

_The other Guy: Yea…last week wasn't really good when I was putting that chapter together, very frustrating in the formatting department. Did you like Davis's comments on planning and what not? I had to laugh when I reread your comment, and what I had put in this chapter. And yea, I'm lazy, but not that lazy. You have to have the good breakup story before everything can be awesome. That's my opinion at least. And I was originally going to make a big deal about that, but now I'll probably just have Piedmon mention it at the endgame. They didn't really notice that Tai was drained, just that he had no emotions. They assume it was something the digital world did, not some evil digimon._

_Lachelle92: Yep! And thanks a bunches!_

_Supershooter: everyone to mega, and bad guys beyond…uh oh! And interesting is this stories middle name…except for the couple of boring parts, then it's not really one of their names…_


	19. Finding Friends

_Hey folks, it's that time of the week again, so here's your chapter. _

_Before I do that though a little shameless self-promoting. You guys should all check out my other stories, the Digimon Demon Wars series, it's really pretty interesting, and a Taiora! (side note, read the return first, then the Diary.)_

_Now for some promoting that isn't shameless or self-promoting. If you guys do like Taiora's (which I would say is a half way safe assumption) then check out TheOmegaMan and TaioraWarrior. Both of them have two stories currently running, and they are both very good reads._ _Ok, Promoting is done…now on with the show! Or, er, story! Yay!_

_**Last Timeish…**:__ So the digidestined weren't doing so well against Piedmon, so they decided to purposely separate themselves (yea, dumb decision to do the thing the bad guys always wanted them to do…). Tai stayed with Davis, Ken and Izzy, while Matt led the others away from danger. Sora didn't really agree with that plan, and stayed behind, but the others all left._

**Chapter 19 Finding Friends **

_Matt_

I slowly stretched out the kinks in my body as I got out of the sleeping bag I'd spent the last night in. That's probably the worst thing for my group now, having to sleep out on the ground with nothing but a sleeping bag between you and the ground. Now I can handle that fine, after all we'd survived for months before with even less, but that didn't mean it was a great thing, or something that I looked forward to.

We'd officially spent our first night as a separate group last night, and even though we weren't really any farther from the others, it still felt like we'd put an few extra miles between us during the night. I'd insisted on a rather fast pace yesterday to get away from Gennai's house, for a number of reasons.

The first one was to stop Tai from doing something stupid. I was pretty sure that he and Sora would have made up when they sat down and talked things out. Those two may have been the most stubborn, bull headed people I've ever met, but they loved each other more than I could possibly imagine. I even got a tiny bit jealous of them on occasion, I mean, I'd loved Sora in my own way and to see the way that she and Tai just seemed to complete each other sometimes made me want that for myself.

I wished I felt the same way about Momoko, but I could honestly say after dating her for a few months that I didn't. That's why I probably wouldn't be seeing her for much longer if we got out of this alive, simply because it wasn't fair to either of us.

Anyways, I'm getting off track. So I had us hurry up and leave Gennai's, because I knew that even when Tai and Sora got over their fight Tai would want to send Sora back to us, to get out of harm's way. I guess that made a bit of sense, but I felt she would do more good with the other group. Despite how worried Tai would be over her, she would help him out with that group, and they would both be happier and more able to help everyone together rather than apart.

The other big reason was the fact that Tai would be launching into some new scheme as soon as he could, and I want our "safe" group to be as far away as possible when that happened (just on the off chance things didn't go the way Tai planned, like usual). The farther we were from this part of the digital world, the safer we would be, most likely.

So we'd gone at breakneck pace, even digivolving most of our partners up to the champion level to speed up our travelling. We'd gotten pretty spoiled with the digiports, I was learning quickly.

We had once only had to walk the distance between a digiport and our destination, and that was it. We could travel to entire different continents in just a few minutes if we travelled quickly enough between the ports. Now it seemed like we were slowed down to a crawl, moving on foot.

Things with Cody didn't really help. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid. Not only was he next to useless thanks to the fact that his partner couldn't digivolve past Champion, though all of us had the tact not to say that to him or Yolei, but he had a broken arm to top things off. Luckily Joe had been able to apply a cast to it at Gennai's, which was surprisingly well equipped for medical purposes, when we decided to leave. Even with the cast, he still had to be very careful with his arm. I mean, I couldn't complain about the kids attitude, because he was taking things like a trooper, and handing it better than some of the others in our group. That didn't stop his condition from hampering things somewhat.

I had wanted to use Garurumon, Pegasusmon, and Aquilamon to transport all of us at a fast pace across the continent, and then maybe use Ikkakumon and Submarimon in place of Garurumon to travel across the ocean. The second part of the plan was technically feasible, but it was going to take a week or two to travel to the ocean, because Cody's arm couldn't handle the buffeting that would occur when he rode on Garurumon's back or went flying with either flying digimon. At least that's what Joe said. So, we'd been forced to digivolve some slower paced digimon, to keep Cody more stable.

_Oh quit your bitching…_ I thought to myself as I finally seemed to be fully woken up and stretched.

I headed over to where Joe was leaning against the wall near the entrance of the cave we were in, supposedly on watch still. Gomamon was certainly snoozing next to Joe, but the older boy was awake, watching all along the only path to the cave we'd stayed the night in.

"How you holding up Joe?" I asked, thinking that it would be good to see how everyone was doing this morning.

To be honest I wasn't so sure how to do all the leadership things. I mean, I had some ideas that I wanted to try out that Tai had never tried because he stubbornly stuck to what he wanted to do, but that didn't mean I was supremely confident of what I should do. I'd never had any practice at it.

"I'm fine Matt. T.K. woke me up a few hours ago, and it's all been quiet since then." Joe replied looking back at me. I nodded, not really knowing what else to say. I mean, what else was there to say at this point?

I walked back inside the cave where the others were still mostly asleep. I couldn't sleep that long in the outdoors.

It's not that I couldn't handle the outdoors, just the opposite in fact. I loved camping, I went with my dad and T.K., or some of the guys, all the time, but despite that fact I could never get a good night's sleep out in the woods, ever. Even when we were travelling the digital world on our first adventure I'd never gotten a good night's sleep outside of the few nights we spent in beds. It was just the way my body worked I guess.

I started pulling out some of the supplies that we had brought with us to prepare breakfast for everyone. That's one of the things that I'd discovered in the digital world, I actually enjoyed making food for everyone. That was a really good thing because my dad couldn't cook anything good to eat if his life depended on it.

So I spent the next few minutes preparing the food for everyone, at which point the sun came out. That, combined with the smell of food, caused the others to start to rise from where they'd been sleeping. Yolei was the first up, though I didn't say anything to her as she started walking around the cave. She looked like even less of a morning person that Tai or Mimi, and that was saying something.

Kari was the next to wake up, sitting up from where she'd been sleeping next to T.K. She looked fine to me, but then, she was much more of a morning person than most of the other digidestined. T.K. would probably sleep right up until we left, as he'd had the longest shift last night, neglecting to wake Kari up for her turn, as I'd found out when using the bathroom.

This was one of those times I was thankful that Tai wasn't around. He probably would have flipped if he'd seen T.K. sleep that close to his little sister. I felt that sometimes (ok, most of the time) he was far too overprotective of Kari. I mean, she was in high school! She could take care of herself, and make her own decisions. Plus, he didn't need to threaten my brother whenever he saw them together…

Cody was the next to wake up, and Kari went right over to him to help him out. I had to give the kid credit, he didn't complain, or try and make the rest of us do stuff for him, but he never refused help when he actually needed it. He showed that he was doing his best not to be a drag on the rest of us, while at the same time not being too stubborn or stupid to accept help.

Mimi was the last person to wake up, as she'd been the deepest into the cave so the sunlight hit her last. She got up, and actually headed straight over to where I was making everyone's breakfast. I'd expected her to act like Yolei, walking around like a zombie for at least an hour or two before she was really awake, like our first trip to the digital world. Instead she headed right over to me, and started helping with preparing breakfast.

Mimi kept surprising me on this trip. I knew she wasn't the same spoiled whiney girl that we'd first met at summer camp, but she wasn't the same Mimi who'd left for America a couple of years ago. Honestly I was more and more curious about her the longer I was around her.

Of course, I'd thought she'd gone back to how she'd been yesterday with the whole refusing to fight thing, but that was more of just who she was. She was almost a pacifist, and definitely didn't want any of her friends to get hurt for any reason. It was one of the most considerate things that I'd ever seen someone do, at least if you looked at it that way.

_It's really nice that she's trying to look out for everyone in her own way..._ I thought to myself as Mimi help set up some plates for everyone. I smiled at her when we finished, and she smiled right back, which caused a rather weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. 

_What was that?_ I thought to myself as Mimi picked up two plates and walked towards Kari and Cody. I looked around seeing if anyone else had noticed anything, before I realized that they couldn't have noticed something that happened in my stomach.

I picked up a plate to bring to Joe and moved out to the entrance to the cave where Joe was still sitting guard. Joe, and Gomamon, thanked me for the food, and then I headed back into the cave, intent on grabbing for myself and Gabumon. Mimi caught me half way and handed me a plate.

"Here you go Matt!" Mimi said, handing me a plate with a smile. My stomach did the same little flip thing that it had a second ago, and I managed to mumble something that sounded like thanks to Mimi before going over to Gabumon. I had no idea what was going on, and it was really confusing me. No girl had ever made me get all nervous and…wait a minute!

_No girl has ever caused me to act this way, but I've seen other people act like this! When they have a crush…oh shit…_ I thought myself as I sat down next to Gabumon.

I handed my partner some of the food and we ate away in silence. Everyone was mostly just sitting off by themselves, sitting with their partner while they ate. Well, Kari was eating with Cody, but that's because she was making sure he was ok, and Joe was on guard duty outside, and T.K. was asleep. So, Yolei was off with Hawkmon in a corner, I was here with Gabumon, and Mimi was over there…

"Hi Matt, mind if I sit here?" Mimi asked from right next to me, causing me to jump a little. I had been so busy tallying up everyone that I'd lost track of Mimi before I could tally her, and now she was here.

_Hmm, guess that means Yolei will be the only one sitting by herself…_ I thought, looking up at Mimi.

"Well, can I?" Mimi asked again, and I quickly responded as I realized I'd never answered it.

"Of course!" I said way to fast. This was defiantly weird for me. I mean, I was used to watching other people have crushes, but I'd never really had one. Even with Sora, I'd never really been nervous around her, other than the fact that I felt that she was "Tai's girl." I'd never had trouble finding something to talk about or focus on what I was doing.

"Thanks." Mimi replied, sitting down next to me as Palmon sat down next to Gabumon.

We both sat there for a while, just picking at our food, and I was starting to get really anxious. I had never had trouble talking to anyone, especially one of the digidestined, about anything, and now here I was unable to really say anything at all.

_You know, Mimi's not really saying anything either…_ Part of my mind said, trying to comfort me. That of course excited me, until I thought that it could just be her waiting for me to say something, or not really wanting to talk to me… 

_Ugh…this sucks…how does anyone deal with it? They probably don't have any problems like this in America…Wait! That's it!_ I finally had something to talk about!

"So Mimi, how's America?" I asked, about as soon as it came into my head.

"America?" She asked, looking a little surprised at my question.

"Yea, how's, uh, life in America?" I asked, and wanted to hit myself.

_Yea, that was great, ask her about home when we're trapped out here, good job genius…_

_Great, now I'm talking to myself…I'm going crazy…_

"It's ok. Nothing on Japan though." Mimi replied, and my attention was suddenly completely on her. Her tone was much less happy than it usually was, almost like she didn't like it.

"Do you like it there?" I asked, curios as to why she would use that tone overriding the odd nervousness I was feeling.

"Sometimes. New York has its moments, but I really miss being back home in Japan, with all of you guys." Mimi replied, looking down at her feet as she said this. "I mean, I miss everything that goes on back in Odaiba, and everything that happens with you guys." Mimi paused at this point as I held on to everything she was saying. "In all honesty, I just really miss each and every one of you guys."

"Well, we miss you too Mimi!" I replied instantly, not liking Mimi being as sad as she was being. "We really do!" Mimi looked up at me, and smiled, causing my stomach to do its little flip once more. Before we could do anything else though, Yolei sat down on the other side of Mimi, claiming that she wasn't going to be the only one eating alone. Mimi turned most of her attention towards Yolei at that point, and after a few seconds, I stood up and walked over to the fire pit to clean up from the cooking.

"Hey Matt, is something the matter?" A voice asked quietly from my side. Gabumon had followed me over to the fire pit.

Gabumon was my best friend (well, him and Tai) and I could tell him anything, (even stuff I didn't tell Tai).

"I don't really know Gabumon." I replied honestly, since I was more confused than anything else.

"Well, you were acting really weird around Mimi. Did she do something to you?" Gabumon asked, and I had to snort. We'd tried to explain about humans and their relationships a few times to the digimon, but they never really seemed to get what we were telling them. I didn't think that explaining things to him would help him understand things. Then of course, I'd never know unless I tried.

"She didn't do anything Gabumon, I'm just a little confused about Mimi right now." I replied, being careful to keep my voice as quiet as possible. This was not something I wanted to tell all of the others right now.

"Confused? What do you mean?" Gabumon asked, looking very confused himself. "Did she say something confusing?" 

_I shouldn't have done this…_ I thought to myself as I looked down at Gabumon.

"No, I'm just a little confused about how I feel about Mimi." I replied, and Gabumon's eyes widened.

"Do you not want to be her friend anymore Matt?" He asked, and I just looked down. There was no way I was going to be able to explain this to Gabumon. He was great, and usually had great advice for pretty much anything, but relationships were not something that digimon ever worried about, or even knew about.

"No Gabumon, it's not that." I told him as I went to pick up the rest of the area. "Listen, just don't worry about it, it's a human thing, ok?"

"Ok Matt!" Gabumon replied, and came over to help me pick things up. After that, I figured it was a good time to get moving. We still had a lot of ground to cover before we even got close to the ocean, and the day wasn't getting any younger. Gabumon took care of waking T.K. and Patamon up, and then the fourteen of us headed out into the forest.

We'd decided the night before than we would travel today without digivolving our partners, both to save their strength, and to help keep a lower profile. Our pace was hardly slowed, and we left much less of an impact on the digital world around us. Plus our trail was harder to follow if we travelled like this.

So things for the rest of the day were relatively quiet, nothing happened, and we all stayed silent most of the time. I didn't know about the others but something about the forest we were travelling in wanted me to do my best to make sure we weren't noticed, by anyone.

As the sky above us started to darken, we found a good place to camp out for the night. There weren't any good caves around, so we found a decent clearing, and laid out our camp. Each of us had a specific task to take care of as we set up camp, and it was all very reminiscent of my first time in the digital world.

Even though we hadn't had any supplies when we got to the digital world, we still had a basic camp to set up, and each of us had a specific job back then to take care of. I would set up the campfire for both warmth and cooking, along with anything else that needed to be done with the cooking. Joe and Izzy would find good spots for everyone to sleep, and clear out any underbrush and what not that would make someone's night uncomfortable. Tai and Sora would go off and get some water for everyone, while T.K. and Mimi would gather firewood for the night. Everyone's partners helped them out, and by the end of our trip it was completely second nature to all of us to do those tasks.

We split things up pretty much the same way, four tasks for the seven of us. Yolei helped Mimi with the firewood, while Cody helped Joe out with the clearing (that was the only job he could really help out with, since he could kick stuff away with his feet). Kari took over her brother's old job, with help from T.K., leaving me with the fire and cooking area once more. We didn't have anywhere near the speed that we'd had my first time to the digital world, but it still made the camp set up move pretty quickly.

After dinner we didn't really say much as everyone, except for me since I was first watch, drifted off to sleep.

I was almost drifting off a little myself, not an uncommon thing for the person on watch, when someone sat down next to me. I looked over to see Mimi, which surprised me, for the third time today.

"Hi Matt." She said quietly.

"Hey Meems," I replied just as quietly. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Nope, it's too quiet out here." She replied, and I nodded in understanding. Some people got so used to the noises of cities, and I'd heard that the noise in New York was even worse than Tokyo, that they couldn't fall asleep without a large amount of noise. Personally I found that very idea crazy, but I guess it did affect some people.

"I'm supposed to relieve you in a bit anyways, you mind if I just sit with you?" She asked, looking down at her feet once more, in a very un-Mimi like way.

"Nope, feel free to sit as much as you want." I replied, cringing on the inside at how lame that sounded, but smiling as Mimi smiled at me.

~The next morning~

"RISE AND SHINE!" A loud voice intruded into my nice, wonderful slumber, causing me to sit up in a hurry, expecting some sort of attack to be underway. The soft and pretty warm thing that had been against my right side also jumped off of me, either due to the shout, or me getting up.

I finally got the bearing of my surroundings, and my eyes adjusted to the light in the clearing, and I saw T.K., the shouter I now realized, double up in laughter, while everyone else looked on in somewhat amusement. I also figured out what the soft warm thing turned out to be Mimi, who was looking exactly how I felt, confused, and just a little shocked.

"You two sleep well?" T.K. asked as I finally stood up. I mumbled something, and Mimi did the same, earning another laugh out of T.K., and a punch for him from Kari.

"Oh quit it T.K." Kari told my little brother, and then turned to me and Mimi. "The two of you just looked so peaceful we decided to let you sleep while we picked up camp. We're all ready to go."

Now, in addition to feeling slightly awkward that both Mimi and I had fallen asleep last night, I felt a little guilty that the others had picked up camp without us. And they'd been cleaning while the two of us had been sleep here in the open… 

_Ugh…good thing Tai isn't here, I'd never hear the end of this…_ I thought to myself, finding small comfort in that thought.

The night before hadn't been bad at all, in fact it had been quite pleasant. Mimi and I had talked all the way through my shift, and I didn't feel right leaving her out there on her own, so we'd kept talking through her shift. She'd eventually said she was going to close her eyes for a bit, and leaned against me. I stayed awake a few minutes after that, but without any conversation to keep me awake, I'd fallen asleep soon after.

Mimi went over to where Yolei was talking to Palmon and Hawkmon, while putting the last few things in her backpack, leaving me with T.K. and Kari, who shot T.K. one last look before heading over to the other girls.

"Well, how about that Matt, you and Mimi, huh?" T.K. asked, nudging me with his elbow the second Kari was out of earshot.

"Oh shut up T.K." I replied, looking around for my backpack.

"What?" He asked, and I just gave him a look I hope he took to mean drop it. "So what are you going to tell Momoko?"

"T.K., if you don't stop talking about this…" I trailed off suggestively, but that just seemed to encourage him. He didn't stop bothering me as all of us started our days trek. The girls took the lead, while T.K., Joe, and Cody stayed back with me.

I was actually a little concerned over what Joe would say or do. I'd always thought that Joe had a thing for Mimi, and I didn't really know if he'd think that something had happened last night. I knew he actually had a steady girlfriend of his own, but that didn't seem to matter here in the digital world, after all I didn't really think about Momoko at all, which probably said volumes about our relationship.

Of course, after a few minutes he joined T.K. in messing with me, so I assumed everything was ok.

About an hour later the only guy I didn't want to go rot in a hole in the ground somewhere was Cody, mostly because he was being his usual quiet self around all of us. That's when the girls spotted something in front of us.

"Look! A Diner!" Mimi called out as we all came out of the forest. Sure enough there was a diner sitting there, at the edge of a lake. There was something familiar about this diner though, like I had been to it before.

"It looks just like the one we were at when I found my digiegg!" Yolei exclaimed as well all stopped at the edge of the forest. Both Cody and Kari said something about remembering that, but I wasn't paying attention as I'd finally realized why it looked familiar.

"Uh…Matt, is it just me, or does that diner look a lot like…" Joe asked me as we looked at the diner.

"Yea, Joe," I replied, cutting him off. "It looks exactly like Digitamamon's diner."

As if things couldn't really have gotten any more weird, we find this place, the place where I'd first used my Crest, and where I'd been a huge jerk to Joe.

"I thought this place was destroyed when the Dark Masters rearranged the digital world." Joe said looking right at the building.

"What?" I asked, confused as to why Joe thought that.

"When we all split up, right after fighting Puppetmon, Mimi and I found this diner in an area that looked like a ruined city. The place was trashed back then." Joe replied, pushing his glasses up a little bit as he said that.

"I remember that!" Mimi exclaimed as we all continued to look at the diner. "But we all came here back when the younger guys were fighting the Digimon Emperor! Digitamamon had really turned things around when we were here."

"Wait, that jerk was still here?" I asked, surprised since WereGarurumon had sent that guy packing when we were here.

"Yea, but he wasn't really a jerk, he was being controlled by a dark spiral." Yolei spoke up this time, and I let out a laugh.

"Not the time we met him." I replied, not being able to forget what had happened at the diner during my first trip to the digital world.

"He's changed Matt, really he has." T.K. spoke up this time, the only other person, besides Joe who'd been there back then. "He even helped us when we were fighting BlackWarGreymon. He's a good guy now."

Everyone except for Joe seemed to agree with this, and I couldn't really go against everyone, especially with how hungry I was right then (the others had neglected to get me and Mimi some breakfast earlier).

"Ok, we'll check it out. But the first sign of trouble, and we're out of here." I replied, earning a cheer from the others.

We headed down towards the diner, everyone chatting excitedly at the possibility of a really good diner breakfast to compliment the one they'd eaten back at the camp. I didn't join in because that diner still made me feel uneasy. Call it whatever you wanted, paranoia or just plain craziness, but I had a really bad feeling about the diner. Unfortunately everyone else wanted to go there, so my feeling was over ruled.

We finally made it to the door, and inside the diner. The sight inside did nothing to make me more comfortable, in fact, it made me more uncomfortable as the place was trashed. The main room of the diner was absolutely destroyed. Tables were wrecked, chairs were broken into dozens of different pieces and scattered all over the room.

"What happened here?" I asked as the other gasped at the destruction in the room.

"I don't know, but I don't think it'll be a good idea to stick around and find out." Joe replied as we all looked around.

"But what about Digitamamon? We have to find out if he's ok!" Mimi exclaimed, just before running towards the kitchen.

"Mimi, wait!" I called out, reaching for her before she ran off, but not being able to grab her. I followed after her instead. Inside the kitchen things were just the same, except for the giant egg that was sitting in the middle of the floor.

"Digitamamon!" Mimi exclaimed as I entered into the kitchen. I was a lot more careful, since my last encounter with this digimon hadn't been a very good one. Mimi, thankfully, didn't do something stupid like run right up to him and hug him or something, but I still had a bad feeling about this.

The giant egg for its part just sat there for a second, and then slowly the crack on the front of it opened up, revealing the pair of eyes in the dark void of the egg. Surprisingly, they didn't seem angry, or surprised, but more worried. Then the pair of legs that carried Digitamamon around shot out of his shell, and he jumped up into the air, aiming for Mimi as he fell to the ground.

"Gabumon!" I shouted back out into the main diner as I jumped forward and knocked Mimi out of the way. The giant egg digimon missed both of us, barely, and turned to face us as he landed. At that point all of the others, and our partners came rushing into the kitchen.

Digitamamon jumped at Mimi and I once more, and once again I pulled Mimi out of the way as the giant egg crashed into the wall behind us and out into the area around the lake.

"Gabumon, digivolve!" I called out to my partner, who jumped forward as both my digivice and my Crest started to glow.

A cold feeling seemed to fill my body, but not a bad one. It's like the type of cold that he have on a hot summer's day, the one that cools you off and helps you relax as you just got done having fun in the sun. This feeling spread to my entire body, and then rushed into my hand, which was holding my digivice. An intense beam of light shot out of the digivice as the cool feeling left me, and Gabumon's digivolution was triggered.

"Gabumon warp digivolve to!" Gabumon grew in size to the same size he was as Garurumon, but instead of striped fur he was covered in strong metallic armor, which could protect him from any attack. "MetalGarurumon!"

MetalGarurumon shot out of the hole that Digitamamon had created, just as the digimon tried to reenter it. Needless to say Digitamamon was sent flying back into the woods. I jumped out after my partner intent on seeing this finished. I could hear the other digimon digivolving behind me, and even though I knew we wouldn't need more than MetalGarurumon to take care of this guy, I was a little relieved. Back up is always appreciated.

Digitamamon walked back towards us jerkily as all of the other digimon lined up with MetalGarurumon.

"Ok MetalGarurumon, show this guy why he shouldn't mess with paying customers." I said coolly as he got closer.

"Matt." A voice said from next to me. I turned to see Mimi looking at me concerned. "Don't hurt him, I'm sure he isn't doing this on purpose…"

I opened my mouth to respond, and tell her that yes, he was doing this on purpose, but the pleading look on her face caused me to stop mid word.

"I'll try." I said instead, while inside almost screaming at myself.

"Thanks" Mimi replied with a small smile.

"Ok MetalGarurumon, try to just knock him out, don't destroy him." I said to my partner, who nodded his head before jumping forward. He landed between the awkwardly charging Digitamamon and our group, and sent him flying with a swift tackle. Digitamamon landed with a grunt of pain, but stood right up and charged again, jerky movements continuing.

"What is the matter with him?" Cody asked as he was once more sent flying by MetalGarurumon.

"Yea, he wasn't all jerky like that the last time we saw him, even when he was under the control of the dark spiral." Yolei said as he was sent flying once more, cutting a tree in half cleanly. "It's almost like he was just a puppet rather than a digimon."

That struck a chord in my mind the second Yolei said puppet, but I didn't put everything together until Lillymon jumped in between Digitamamon and MetalGarurumon.

"Lillymon, what are you doing?" MetalGarurumon ask as he ground to a halt before hitting Lillymon.

"I'm not controlling myself!" Lillymon exclaimed, just before whacking MetalGarurumon with her flower cannon across the face.

"Lillymon!" MagnaAngemon and Zudomon both shouted as she did that, just before stepping forward.

"Stop!" I shouted, causing the two digimon to stop moving. "She's not controlling herself, and neither is Digitamamon. Puppetmon is controlling them."

"What? But Puppetmon is dead!" T.K. exclaimed as I said this.

"Not anymore." I replied, just as a voice I had never wanted to hear again spoke.

"Oh man, now that game's over!" We all turned to see a crude puppet like creature jump out of one of the trees, its hands outstretched with strings attaching them to Lillymon and Digitamamon. "Now I guess I'll have to play a new game, destroy the digidestined!"

_Oh snap, another Dark Master is back! And he's attacking the "safe" group! What's going to happen next? Probably something equally dreadful…lol_

**_Next Time:_**

"_It's a puzzle of some sort!" Izzy exclaimed, looking at the markings on the wall._

"_That's great Izzy. I'll be sure to thank the makers of this place for giving us entertainment, but OPEN THE DOOR!" Tai shouted back towards Izzy from where he and Davis were waiting between GigaSeadramon and us._

"_Magna Blast!" Magnamon tried to hit the large digimon, but his blasts did little or no damage to him._

"_Izzy, I think you better do what Tai says…" I say to Izzy and Biyomon nods. "I don't know how much longer they can last!"_

**_Review Replies:_**

_TheOmegaMan: I think it can be argued either way, because the older kids only had to worry about surviving and digimon, while the younger kids also had keeping secrets and school to worry about. And don't worry about GigaSeadramon, that's coming next chapter yea, I rather liked that myself._

_Appealtoreason: Glad you do. I started it after reading a story and completely forgetting what had happened the time before. I thought everyone could appreciate that._

_LyraXEthan: Thanks! and sweet!_

_The other Guy: Thanks! yea, I try and cycle through pretty consistently, but sometimes it doesn't work out that well (for example, this chapter was the first time in like 6 chapters that Matt got to be the person who's perspective we're watching from.) …and I see I'll have to work for that lol. And don't worry. It's your right to poke holes in the story. As long as it's somewhat constructive I don't mind that much. And how could I leave the rest of the Dark Masters out? I can promise that the DD will start to eliminate the bad guys faster than they are appearing rather soon, but expect all of them to be here. And I think some people might be a little confused if I left the preview in the middle, just a thought lol. And I'm sorry you were pissed, but I do have a life outside of fan fiction (contrary to the rumors) sometimes it gets into my writing time, and makes things slow down. Expect it to happen on occasion. (and you discovered my plot! Oh no! lol)_

_Matani: No such thing….yet. I hope I'll never be that busy, but it may happen eventually. And yep. I'm liking a nice back and forth with the groups. Now the big question is what each team will do now that they seemed in a bit of a bad spot…_

_TaioraWarrior: lol yea, I could so see Davis thinking that, and bringing popcorn and a drink to them lol. And DA3 did start it, though I will say I planned to use the Dark Masters when I first started planning this out, during the summer before I read DA3. And you got that update…hopefully another tomorrow…oh and BTW, The Other Guy is slowly taking your title of best reviews…just FYI…_

_Lachelle92: so was it more interesting?_

_Pontiac56: Glad you like it! Taiora is pretty awesome if I do say so myself. And sadly Omnimon will not make a reappearance in this story, though many other, equally or more awesome digimon will, so stay tuned! Thanks again!_

_The other Guy: Two review replies! In one chapter! It's a new record! Lol and I'm glad I'm making things hard on you, I'd hate to make life boring for my readers. Lol Thanks! not much action this chapter, but the next two will be filled with it, so look forward to that! I'm glad you think they're realistic, because that's something I've really strived to do. Realistic=good in my books. And you are not wrong, but also very wrong. A Digimental is a digiegg, in the Japanese version, but I'm referring to the Digimental that is used in the V-Tamer Manga (which you should check out if you ever get bored/you're a Tai fan. It's a good read and available online). That's the one you should look at. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO MANY BAD GUYS! Especially since they like the old one at a time approach to taking the DD down lol. Yea, I space out if talks get to technical as well. And yet again I find that somewhat in the realistic side of things, so…._

_Supershooter: Thanks! I thought the flashback was good as well, and appropriate for this. Good for you! and it's How Far INTERESTING! We've Come!_

_Odinson83: Lol, hey, Davis can be sweet, occasionally lol. And exactly! And no, feel free to rate me however you want, though if it's a really bad rating for some reason would you mind letting me know what was bad? Thanks!_

_twilightromance4ever: I'm glad you're enjoying it!_


	20. The Tablet

_Well, hello folks, pretty late again I know, but I have a legit excuse for once, I was super beyond the possible comprehension of the word, busy the last four days. If you really want to know howo busy, I got eight hours of sleep total the last four days, and I've slept every minute I could. Ok enough complaining from me._

_Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, otherwise most people reading this would be happier._

_**Last Timeish:**__ Tai and his team found the location of a tablet that could lead them to the Digimental, something that could allow all of their partners to reach the mega level. Unfortunately they only knew the location of a tablet that could help them find it, so they went to get the tablet. So they went to get said tablet. Unfortunately once they got to the tablets location, they encountered GigaSeadramon, the reborn and improved form of MetalSeadramon, who trapped them in the structure that held the tablet._

**Chapter 20 The Tablet (Part 2)**

_Sora_

"Well that could have gone better." Davis announced as we all looked around the almost completely dark room we were in. The only light was coming from Magnamon, who was standing next to Davis.

"You don't say Davis." Tai deadpanned, earning a snort from Izzy and a small giggle from me. We'd just been inches away from being destroyed by a giant metal covered sea serpent, and everyone was a little on edge, or at least I was. Tai, and Davis I was sure, had a good ability to take people's minds off of that, which I'm sure is what Tai was trying to do. Davis probably did it accidentally more often than on purpose.

"Well, it didn't…" Davis replied, Tai's sarcasm going over his head. Tai just shook his head at his young protégé, as the rest of us actually laughed. Tai though, didn't laugh with us, and I noticed this pretty quick. He was looking around, seeing what the light from Magnamon revealed about the room we were in.

I joined in, taking a look around the structure that we had come here to search. If Izzy was right, and let's face it he almost always was right, there was something here that could help us defeat Piedmon here, but we didn't know anything about this place.

At first glance it seemed similar to many of the temple like structures we'd come across in the digital world, it even looked similar to the structures of the Temple of the Harmonious Ones, at least the one I had been in. The room we were in seemed to be some sort of large forayer for the structure. The entrance we had used dominated one side of the room, though it was now covered in a large pile of rubble, thanks to GigaSeadramon. The other side of the room held what looked like four doorways. The light from Magnamon wasn't bright enough to see too far into the openings, so some of them could have been just an alcove instead of hallway. Along one of the walls I could barely make out shapes of something on the wall, and that kept my eyes as I looked right at it. Almost unconsciously I started edging towards the wall.

Behind me the laughter from Izzy and Ken died down, leaving the room in silence. Davis was the first to break the silence as we looked around.

"So, where to next?" He asked.

"Well, I suppose we should try and find the tablet here in the temple." Ken spoke up, as I stepped closer to the wall. It looked like some sort of mural was on the wall, but I couldn't really make out exactly what it was since there wasn't enough light in the room.

"Sora?" Tai's voice called from behind me, and I sensed his presence behind me. A quick look back confirmed that he was standing there, and I nodded my head towards the wall.

"Look at this." I said, and he stepped next to me.

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure, there's not enough light." I replied, just as the light increased. I turned to see the others coming over to where we were standing, Magnamon's light finally revealing the mural in front of us. What I saw was, let's just say surprising.

It was a mural of sorts, but seemed to show a story rather than just a collection of random pictures. It was what the mural was about that was the biggest shock I think. At what I could figure was the start was what was obviously supposed to be a human, and while that was a shock it wasn't the biggest shock. The human had large hair sticking out in all directions, a dark shirt with stars on it, light pants, and a pair of goggles on his head.

"Wow, why am I in a mural in the digital world?" Davis asked, looking at the same thing the rest of us were looking at.

"Davis, that's not supposed to be you, that's supposed to be Tai." I said before anyone else could correct him. "That's even the very outfit he wore the first time we came to the digital world."

"Prodigious," Izzy said, stepping to get a closer look at Tai's representation on the mural. "It's resemblance to Tai is uncanny."

"You can say that again." Tai said standing next to Izzy. We all looked over the whole mural in the light provided to us by Magnamon. IT showed the Tai figure meeting up with a horned digimon, then seeming to go on several adventures with it, including meeting up with an Angel and a Leomon, adding a Gabumon to their travelling group, battling several digimon that I recognized as Ultimate level digimon. Towards the middle of the screen the Tai look alike and the two digimon with his encountered another human, one who I didn't recognize.

The human had a MetalGreymon with him, and they fought.

"Two humans, fighting with digimon partners?" Ken asked as he obviously got to the same part I was at, and sounded just as confused. I looked at him and we shared a shrug, then we both turned back to the mural. They continued on through several more adventures, finally reaching a battle on a giant piece of floating land, against the same human, who used multiple digimon in the battle, including one with a giant eye that I didn't recognize. Tai seemed to be losing when he was knocked off of a cliff, and the horned digimon jumping after him. It grew in size and gained a pair of wings to rescue Tai before defeating its opponent. That's where the mural ended.

"What is this?" Davis asked after all of us had looked over it multiple times.

I shrugged along with Ken, but Izzy looked thoughtfully at Tai, who hadn't said or done anything over the last few minutes.

"Tai, does this have any meaning to you?" He asked, focusing everyone, including the digimon's attention on him.

"Maybe." Tai replied, earning double takes from most of us, including me. "There was this dream I had, a few months before we went to the digital world." Tai started. "I'd almost completely forgotten about it even when we got to the digital world, let alone now."

"What kind of dream?" Davis asked, and I was starting to actually remember as well. Tai and I had been best friends for a long time, and back then, right before the digital world, we would tell each other everything. I remembered Tai mentioning something about a rather weird dream now that I thought about it, but he changed topics before we could talk about it much.

"Well, in this dream there was this big electronic game convention." Tai replied to Davis, closing his eyes as he did his best to remember. "I'm not certain, but I think the game was digimon."

"What?" All of us asked in unison, including all of our partners. Tai just shrugged.

"This might have been influenced by our later trip to the digital world…" he said, a sheepish grin on his face. "Anyways, I won this tournament thing, and then I was in a different world. I met the digimon I was raising, who was a giant blue dragon like digimon without wings, and we had adventures together to stop some evil." Tai pointed at the mural. "It was just like that."

All of us were, needless to say, shocked at this. Davis, as usual, was the first to break the silence.

"So what happened after that battle?" he asked, grabbing his mentor's arm. All of us looked at Davis, and I had to stifle a laugh. Of course Davis would want to know what happened next in the story rather than being shocked at what Tai said.

"That's the thing Davis. I'm only remembering parts of it, the parts on this mural." Tai replied, and Davis looked somewhat down. Izzy however looked thoughtful.

"That was quite a while in the past, and many minds have a tendency to forget dreams almost as soon as you wake up." Izzy stated, looking at Tai. "Maybe you were taken that day to help the digital world."

"But what about the time he spent at the tournament?" Ken asked, looking at Izzy. The two of them started making points and counter points with each other, and I walked up to Tai, who was still looking at the mural now that Izzy was talking with Ken.

"So…" I said, unsure of what to say at the moment, Tai however seemed to be expecting an attack.

"I know it sounds weird, but I really do remember doing all of this…" He said, and I interrupted him.

"I know Tai, I believe you."

"You do?" He asked, and I nodded with a smile.

"Of course I do. I trust you more than anyone else I know." I replied. "Plus I remember you mentioning something about a really weird dream in the right timeframe."

Tai had a look of immense relief on his face as he said this, and he gave me a big hug.

"That's a relief. I was afraid that no one would believe me."

"Why wouldn't we? I mean, it's not like you need to be more famous in the digital world." I said with a smile. All of us digidestined were famous in the digital world, but Tai was in a class all by himself. He was our leader, and one of the most looked up to people in all monkind. The only person whose fame was close to his was Matt, and Matt wasn't exactly the person parents wanted to tell their kids to grow up into. Anyways, I loved teasing him about his level of fame, just so he didn't let it go to his head.

Tai gave me a mock glare that I knew well from all of our mutual teasings and I just smiled at him before going over to look at the mural again. We stayed there for another minute or so, and that's when the shaking started. The entire room seemed to shake, as if an earthquake or something was hitting it, and all of us looked around, wondering what was going on. Magnamon was the one to figure it out.

"It must be GigaSeadramon, he's trying to blast through the rubble!" Magnamon exclaimed, and everyone was suddenly looking a bit more panicked.

"Ok, on one panic, we just have less time than we thought we did." Tai said, his voice only just barely showing any strain from that news.

I looked at him, along with the others, and waited for what he was going to say.

"Ok, we just need to head deeper into this place. His body can't possibly fit in any of the rooms other than this one, and we can deal with his cronies all day long." Tai said, and we all nodded, heading for the doors.

"Wait!" Izzy shouted before we could reach the first one. "We should take a picture of the mural to show to Gennai!" I looked at Izzy, understanding what he was saying, but wishing he could have said it when we were closer to the mural and not getting attacked.

"Ok, quickly!" Tai replied, running back towards the mural. Magnamon lit it up, and Izzy snapped a few pictures, then all of us turned towards the hallway. We were only a few feet from it when the rubble around the door exploded, revealing GigaSeadramon floating there, surrounded by Divermon.

"We're finally through, no thanks to you moronic Divers." GigaSeadramon shouted down to the Divermon, and then he looked around the room, his eyes not adjusted to the darkness. "Now where are those pesky digidestined?"

We were frozen in place, none of us moving a muscle as the large serpent searched the room, going over us several times.

"Wait, there's Magnamon!" The giant serpent exclaimed the fourth time he had looked over us. "Giga Sea Destroyer!"

"Run!" Tai exclaimed and all of us sprinted into the hallway. We all made it, and the torpedoes once more collapsed the entrance behind us. We all fell to the ground from the force of the explosion, coughing from the smoke it had put up. I could hear a muffled voice through the debris.

"Damn it, they got away! Who attacked and destroyed the tunnel?"

Silence greeted the voice for a second, then….

"Sir, it was you." a Voice squeaked out.

"What? How dare you! Giga Sea Destroyer!" Several loud explosions followed this, and I cringed. None of the Dark Masters had been known for good tempers.

"Well, that could have gone better." Davis stated, earning him a look from all of us, and a whack on the back of the head from Tai.

"Ok Izzy, any idea about where we need to go from here?" Tai asked, looking to the red haired boy.

"Well, deeper into the structure would be my best bet. Gennai said that usually things are kept in the center most portions of these types of structures." Izzy replied, and Tai nodded.

"Ok, let's get going then."

We passed most of the next hour or so winding through a series of passageways as Tai and Izzy attempted to find a way through the seeming maze of tunnels. We kept ourselves occupied playing little games like 20 questions. I spy got very old very fast as the only things we could see were each other, the walls, and Magnamon.

Finally we seemed to be making some progress, as we didn't do any double backs because of dead ends, or Izzy's compass told us we were going the wrong way. Pretty soon we were in a long, straight hallway that headed right for the center of the object, as far as Izzy could tell.

At this point we stopped for a bit to eat up some food we'd brought along for lunch. Sitting in the darkness, Magnamon had dedigivolved to rest up a bit and eat easier; I was alone with my thoughts. They drifted straight to the mural, probably destroyed at this point thanks to GigaSeadramon.

Why exactly was something that had happened in Tai's dream on a mural, and better yet how had Tai dreamed about real digimon. Sure I didn't recognize the one that was supposed to be his partner, but all of the others we'd encountered somewhere during our adventures. All of this was, needless to say, very weird.

"Ok guys, let's get moving." Tai said not to much later, prompting everyone else to get to their feet.

"Ok, next time the digital world hides something in a structure they need to pick a smaller one." Davis groaned as he rose to his feet.

A second later Davis had digivolved Veemon, and Magnamon was back, providing light for all of us. We headed down the long tunnel, and up ahead I could see what appeared to be the end of it.

"Look, there's a room up ahead!" I exclaimed excitedly, pointing to where the walls and the roof seemed to disappear. We all speed up our pace to get to the room, and when we got there we were in for a shock.

It was easily the largest room I'd ever seen. Magnamon couldn't even light up a fraction of it from where we were standing, but he didn't have to. Torches came to life all around the room as soon as we entered it, showing off the truly massive proportions of the place. Four walkways, including the one we were on, spanned from the massive outside walls in to the structure lying in the middle of the giant room. That's right, this room was so large it had another building inside of it.

"Wow…" Was all that Tai could say as we all stood there completely shocked at the scope of the room around us. "No way was this inside of the structure we saw at the beach."

"It has to be, we never entered another one." Ken replied.

"We're probably underground." Izzy replied, looking around as well. "Chances are the tablet we came here for is in that center structure Tai."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Tai exclaimed, taking off at a run for the building. The rest of us followed close behind, and we all arrived at the structure, which was surrounded by a large platform for people to walk on. In the center of where all the walkways connected to the platform was a large door, sure to be our way in. We all followed Tai around to the door, but then we got stalled.

The door wouldn't budge an inch as we pushed against it, and there was no way to pull it as its surface was completely smooth.

"Well, this sucks." Davis said, as we all stepped back.

"Maybe the digimon can open it." I suggested, looking to Tai and Davis. Tai shrugged.

"It's worth a try." He replied, turning to Davis since Magnamon was the only digivolved partner.

"Hey Magnamon, blast the door!" Davis exclaimed as we all backed away. Magnamon nodded, jumping into the air opposite the door. He charged up lightning between his arms, calling out.

"Magna Blast!" Bursts of plasma flew out form him and impacted the door, which let out a noise like someone striking a dong before all the plasma blasts flew out in every direction. When the smoke cleared we could see the lack of even a scratch on the door.

"Well, so much for that." Tai said, looking at the door once more. "Hey, Izzy, what's that?"

Tai pointed to something next to the door, and I turned to look at it. It seemed to be a number of dials, surrounded by pictures of some sort that I couldn't make out from where I was standing. There were nine of them, arranged three by three.

Izzy walked up to it, followed quickly by Ken. I was about to follow them when there was a loud crash from above us, and the room got brighter. I turned to look up and I could see part of the ceiling collapsing.

Tai glanced up then went over to Izzy.

"So, what is it?" He asked, and Izzy turned to look at him.

"I think it might be the mechanism for opening the door." Izzy replied, just as more of the ceiling collapsed, revealing GigaSeadramon hovering there.

"Ah, there you are digidestined." The serpent said as he looked down at us. "Quick, someone grab a mirror so I can check my hair! It needs to be perfect when I destroy the digidestined!"

I looked at him, my jaw open.

"Did he just say what I think he just said?" Davis asked, and I nodded. "Man, you guys fought some strange digimon."

GigaSeadramon dived down into the room we were in a second later, having found his mirror or losing patience, either one possible. Tai ran, with Agumon, from where he was standing next to Izzy over to where Davis was standing. That's when Izzy shouted.

"It's a puzzle of some sort!" Izzy exclaimed, looking at Tai from where he was next to the dials on the wall.

"That's great Izzy. I'll be sure to thank the makers of this place for giving us entertainment, but OPEN THE DOOR!" Tai shouted back towards Izzy from where he and Davis were waiting between GigaSeadramon and us.

"Magna Blast!" Magnamon tried to hit the large digimon, but his blasts did little or no damage to him.

"Izzy, I think you better do what Tai says…" I say to Izzy and Biyomon nods. "I don't know how much longer they can last!"

"Do you really think you pitiful attacks can breach my armor? It's made of Chrome Digizoid! It's unbreakable!" GigaSeadramon laughed at Magnamon, who responded with another attack, which had the same effect.

"Izzy…" I said, looking at the younger boy.

"I'm working on it…" He replied, then snapped his fingers. "I've got it!" He ran over to the dials, and started to turn all of them as fast as he could.

"Agumon warp digivolve to! WarGreymon!" I turned to see Agumon's Mega form charge up to battle. Things were not going well for us if WarGreymon was entering battle. WarGreymon flew right at GigaSeadramon, who seemed to remember him from their last encounter, as he dived right below him.

"Magna Blast!" Magnamon raked the top of GigaSeadramon as he dove between the two, hitting him near the head.

"Agh!" GigaSeadramon shouted as Magnamon finally found somewhere his attack could hurt the giant digimon. "Sky Wave!"

GigaSeadramon fired off dozens off missiles from his back as he dove for cover from Magnamon, and the missiles hit both Magnamon and WarGreymon.

Both digimon cried out in pain as several of the unexpected missiles hit them, sending them crashing towards the ground.

"WarGreymon!" Tai cried out.

"Magnamon!" Davis shouted at the same moment. I took a step forward as well, concerned about the digimon. Before I could get to the edge of the platform however GigaSeadramon flew up right in front of me, startling me to say the least.

"Sora!" I heard a voice shout behind me as the giant digimon looked down at me.

"Well, what do I have here? A digidestined." GigaSeadramon asked before answering himself. He charged up energy in his mouth, and I couldn't move a muscle as he prepared to fire a blast at me.

Before he could fire however I felt someone knock me over, and GigaSeadramon let out a shout. Things started happening quickly then. Whoever had knocked me over hadn't really seemed to plan their actions (meaning it was probably Tai. The most likely person anyways) and we rolled end over end for a bit.

I caught sight of an orange blur moving around GigaSeadramon, telling me WarGreymon had stopped his attack, but then there was no time for anything as me and my rescuer (Tai) rolled right over the edge of the platform. We rolled around in the air, allowing me to actually see Tai, who gave me a smile I assumed he thought was reassuring, but seeing how we were falling into a bottomless pit I couldn't really be reassured.

That's when I caught site of the pink something above us, and my digivice let out a flash of light. When I could see again the pink something was red, and much bigger, diving to catch us. Birdramon caught us before we really got the opportunity to see how bottomless the pit was, and flew us back up to where the others were still on the platform.

I looked at Tai who just gave me one of his grins, and I shook my head at him. If I said anything he'd just tell me all's well that ends well.

We arrived back at the platform to find it completely transformed in the last couple of seconds. The battle had really hit a high as the entire place was covered in burn marks and craters, all from the destructive energies that digimon could put forth when needed. JewelBeemon, WarGreymon, and Magnamon all traded blows with GigaSeadramon. The large serpent like digimon was doing its best to keep away from WarGreymon, remembering how easily he'd been defeated in the past, while simultaneously keeping its newly discovered weak spot away from all of the digimon. At the same time he was launching random attack with his Giga Sea Destroyer, and with the missiles on his back.

Our digimon were mostly using whatever cover they could find to avoid the blows from the giant digimon, while firing back when they have the opportunity.

"Where are Izzy, Ken, and Davis?" Tai asked as I took all of this in. I picked out Davis easily enough, taking shelter not far from Magnamon, as Tai noted half a second after a saw him. Izzy and Ken however weren't by the dials where I'd left them.

"They did it!" Tai exclaimed, and I looked back at him as he said this. He gestured to where the door was. "Izzy got the door open!"

I looked, and sure enough the massive door into the building was completely open. The opening was so massive that I hadn't even noticed it until Tai mentioned it.

"Birdramon! Down there!" I called out, gesturing to the opening. My partner squawked a response and dove down. Tai and I jumped off of her back as she got close to the ground, and I help out my digivice as she swooped around to enter the fight. My Crest let out a deep red light, which connected to my digivice, which shot a beam of light right at Birdramon.

"Birdramon digivolve to! Garudamon!" Garudamon shot forward, possibly being able to tip the battle in our favor. I watched her for a second, then I felt someone grab my hand.

"Come on," Tai said, as he took ahold of my hand. The two of us entered into the structure, which had a downward curving roof. Towards the center it was as low as a normal room's roof, and Izzy and Ken were standing there, along with Tentomon. We raced to them, still holding hands. They looked up as we got closer and finally stopped in front of them.

"So this is it?" Tai asked, stepping forward to the object sitting in front of us all.

It was a diamond shaped tablet, floating between the ceiling and a pedestal which rose from the ground. I could make out some sort of script written on it, but I'd never seen it before in my life. I found that I couldn't really stop staring at the tablet, but I did listen to Izzy and the others.

"Yea, this is it." Izzy replied.

"Well, why haven't you grabbed it so we can get out of here?" Tai replied.

"Don't you think we've tried?" Izzy answered. "Apparently only a specific 'Hero of the Digital World' can pick it up."

"What?" Tai replied, and I was finally able to pull my eyes away from the tablet.

"Right here." Ken motioned, pointing down to the pedestal. "It says that a Hero of the Digital World must come and claim this tablet. I'm guessing it's a safeguard to protect the Digimental from evil digimon."

Tai looked at Ken and nodded. I however looked at Tai. My mind couldn't help but go back to the mural in the first room, and the resemblance of the person portrayed in it to Tai.

"Tai, why don't you try and take it?" I asked, getting everyone's attention.

"What?" Tai asked, turning to look at me. Izzy and Ken however looked thoughtful.

"Think about it. That mural in the first room depicted a Hero of the Digital World, and not only do you look just like him, but you had a dream that followed the mural exactly. Maybe you're the one talked about." I said, and Tai looked at me.

"Wh…what?" he asked, and I just shook my head and spun him around. He was facing the tablet now.

"Now, reach out an arm and grab it." I said, and he responded almost before he could think about it. His hand grabbed the tablet without a single problem.

"Prodigious." Izzy exclaimed behind us, and I had to agree with him. We were all frozen for a minute, and then the entire room shook again.

That snapped everyone out of their daze. Tai turned to Izzy, holding out the tablet.

"Izzy, hold onto this." He said, and Izzy took it from him nodding. "Now let's go finish off this giant excuse for a digimon."

We rushed as a group out of the structure into a almost completely destroyed platform. GigaSeadramon was doing pretty much exactly what he had been doing before, only now all the partner digimon were floating around him, attempting to get a clear shot on him.

"Izzy?" Tentomon asked, looking over to his partner, who nodded. Tentomon flew forward as both Izzy's digivice and his Crest started to glow.

"Tentomon digivolve to! Kabuterimon! Kabuterimon digivolve to! MegaKabuterimon!" MegaKabuterimon flew right up into the thick of the battle, GigaSeadramon too occupied to notice him.

"Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon flew right at GigaSeadramon, unleashing his attack at the larger digimon. GigaSeadramon was caught completely by surprise, and was knocked into the wall by the attack.

"Quick! Pin him!" WarGreymon shouted out as the large digimon was sluggish to move. Before he could move Magnamon, JewelBeemon, Garudamon, and MegaKabuterimon had placed themselves all along his body.

"Ah! Get off of me! DO you know who I am!" GigaSeadramon shouted as he attempted to get out of their hold, but couldn't. He looked down, taking aim at Magnamon with his mouth. "Giga Sea Des…" He started to say, but was cut off by WarGreymon.

"Great Tornado!" WarGreymon started spinning so fast he formed a massive tornado, which plunged itself right into GigaSeadramon, who let out a shout, and was then silent as the Dragon Warrior ripped through its entire body. The others let go, and GigaSeadramon burst into Data as WarGreymon finished his attack.

The five digimon flew back and landed by us as the battle finished, and we all ran towards them, cheering as we did. We finally seemed to be turning things around.

_Alright, one down, two left! Right? Who knows? Well, that's this chapter, hope you enjoyed, until next week!_

_**Preview:**_

"_Put more pressure there!" Joe shouted at me, and I tried to comply, but there was a lot of blood coming out of the wound._

_The blood was not only making it hard to apply the pressure, but it was making me queasy. I'd never been very good around blood, but this was a new extreme._

"_Kari, you've got to put more pressure on him, otherwise he'll lose too much blood." Joe said, right next to me this time, and I tried, oh how I tried, but the blood kept pouring out of him, and I couldn't stop it._

_**Review Replies:**_

_TheOmegaMan: Coniving…hehe that word makes me laugh….lol_

_Matani: Lol I thought that was pretty funny myself. and thanks! that's a huge compliment to me. Hopefully things remain that good for you!_

_twilightromance4ever: Lol! Score for you! and Kari? I'd say next chapter, that's when her group comes up again!_

_Digifan23: lol termites for brains….nice, lol. And he'll want to play with someone, though as you can see from the preview it won't end well for that someone. And thanks! IT was my first time writing them, so I'm glad it was decent._

_LyraXEthan: Thanks! and you're welcome! MetalSeadramon was one of my favorites as well, but sadly he had to go away for now _

_Odinson83: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it, because that was my first time ever writing any Mimiato. Thanks! _

_The other Guy: Really? Every time? Now, it was Matt's turn (finally) for his perspective, but it's hardly new. Anyways that's half the reason I kept Matt there, I needed another perspective in that group. His content was new however. I actually made sure I mentioned it in this chapter thanks to you, but I was planning on getting it in there. And exactly! Nowhere in the DW is safe, silly digidestined. Thanks! and that won't stop this week, maybe next week when I'm not swamped with stuff. I'll give you a hint, the legend thing mentioned in the mural in this one is also based upon V-Tamers, so I'd recommend looking it up if I were you. it'll help you be less confused. And only if all of them are together, separate, not so much (other than Piedmon) and Ken? Really? I thought that mentioning Biyomon was the perfect give away, guess I was wrong lol._

_TaioraWarrior: Lol Yay for yays! Ahahaha yea, I thought the innocence was pretty good myself. and yea, like Tai didn't get any of the morning genes, while Kari got all of them. And yea. I won't say much, but let's just say that's mostly for the sequel to this. And that sucks. That's why I don't preorder stuff that I can pick up in a store, you always end up waiting on it. You're welcome! And yea, it would be awesome…damn toei! I do know what you mean, and I'll make sure to tell him for ya…_

_The other Guy: So first off, a message from TaioraWarrior, he says that he's the best reviewer…just fyi…anyways, onto the review, and no, I definitely do not hate any reviews, whatsoever. Thanks! As I've mentioned before, getting things realistic (which includes the personalities) is one thing I strive for in my stories. Thanks again. I like filling in back story they don't tell us in the show, and I do like Joe and Mimi a little more (it makes more sense from the show) I do like Matt and Mimi, as long as they are developed in the story. Their personalities are matches for each other, but they still need to be developed since they didn't really talk much in the show. And thanks again! Yea, I wanted the egghead to be controlled, so everyone thought he was bad, plus the Joe and Matt factor made that even better. And good work with noticing that. If you want a preview of Machinedramon, take a look at Chaosdramon. And idk if I'll focus on Cody. I dislike him less than I did when I first started writing, but I don't really think there is a way to fit him into this story. Maybe in the sequel (yes there is a sequel). Thanks again!_

_TaioraWarrior: I was wondering how you were going to pull this off, but I figured it would be a PM (an advantage you have over the other guy) Cody is very over looked, and unfortunately when I set this story up I did the same thing, and I can't really get him back into the story without screwing up the whole thing, so instead he'll get a bigger part in the sequel. Yea, but Joe will get a bunch of facetime next chapter, as someone is cut way the hell up lol. Joe I definitely think likes Mimi, and I usually ship for them (though I like Mimiato) because I sorta have to as a Taiora fan (one who believes that things that had foundation in the show should happen, not random bullshit that the writers decided should happen when they make no sense) That's why I'm working to develop Mimi and Matt a little, so it's less random. I kinda like Izzy and Mimi, because they would be cuteish, but they need foundation for me to accept them. And I can see why people like Davis and Kari. Probably not more than two, since he only has the two hands, and the format wasn't messed up._

_Lachelle92: Lol exactly! And yep, Puppetmon, the little annoying puppet is back…_

_Supershooter: or ice cubes. I mean he didn't get turned into firewood the first time (though that would have been awesome) and yep! The first time both of them were single and together and they're already hitting it off…of course I wonder how the others are viewing them…_


	21. Puppet Master

_Well, it's been a little while folks, but I am back. I apologize for the couple of Sundays I missed, but let's just say that a situation completely beyond my control occurred which prevented me from writing, I won't bore you with the details. Hopefully it won't happen again, or at least not for a while. Either way I'm back, and you should expect things to be back to normal._

_Disclaimer: No, the situation was not me gaining the rights to digimon, so I still don't own any of this…_

_**Last Timeish:**__ The safe group, consisting of Matt, T.K., Mimi, Kari, Cody, Joe, and Yolei began their travel to the far side of Server, hoping for a way to get to a different continent, and away from Piedmon's long reach. The journey was pretty uneventful, other than the fact that Matt seemed to develop a little crush on Mimi, when they found Digitamamon's diner. Hoping to get a decent meal they went in, only to be attacked by the owner. Matt thought that Digitamamon had returned to his old ways, but soon discovered that he was really just being controlled, by Puppetmon._

**Chapter 21 Puppet Master**

_Kari_

"I'm going to make all of you digidestined pay for ruining my games!" Puppetmon shouted at us, earning absolutely no response from us.

"You're going to make us pay?" Matt asked incredulously, and I had to agree with my boyfriend's older brother's tone. Puppetmon was the one Dark Master that I'd never had a little fear of. Sure he could control anyone's movements, but he was one of the most childish digimon we'd ever encountered, and we could manipulate that fact to our advantage. He was also probably the weakest of the Dark Masters, though still more than a match for a normal Ultimate. Luckily for us we had Matt and T.K. with us.

"I think someone's been letting the termites eat his brains up a little too much." MetalGarurumon said, glaring at our revealed enemy.

"Termites?" Puppetmon asked angrily, glaring at the metal wolf like digimon. I think the mention of the wood devouring insects might have upset him a little. "I'll show you termites!"

He didn't move just after saying that, which led me to think that he wasn't going to do anything. Of course that was actually not right. I didn't notice it at first, but he was moving his hands around, which in turn led to both Lillymon and Digitamamon attacking, and I mean attacking. My first clue to this was Lillymon shouting out to us as she raised her flower cannon.

"Watch out!" She shouted just before firing a burst of energy at us, hitting Angewomon with her attack. My partner cried out before dedigivolving into Gatomon.

"Gatomon!" I shouted, reaching out to catch my partner before she could hit the ground.

"That wasn't fun at all…" Gatomon said, shaking her head as she landed in my arms. Unfortunately that wasn't all that happened. Digitamamon attacked as well, forcing Zudomon to dedigivolve into Gomamon, who Joe rushed over to immediately.

The two controlled Ultimates then faced towards MetalGarurumon and MagnaAngemon and launched more attacks, which the two digimon avoided.

"Hahahaha, let's see how long we can play dodge the attacks before the two of you are exhausted!" Puppetmon shouted gleefully as he continued to force Lillymon and Digitamamon to keep attacking MetalGarurumon and MagnaAngemon. I knew they couldn't keep it up for too long since eventually Puppetmon would attack us in an attempt to get at our partners. Eventually they'd be forced to attack Lillymon and Digitamamon, and that wouldn't go well. I didn't know if Puppetmon had done it intentionally or not but he'd left the two most powerful partners for his little game and they had a real good chance of actually hurting the two controlled digimon if they attacked them.

"Double Stars!" A deep voice suddenly called out and I looked to see a pair of spinning blades, attached to what looked like vines, cut through the lines connecting Puppetmon to Lillymon and Digitamamon.

"Alright Shurimon!" Yolei shouted as she jumped in the air. She was holding onto her digivice and D-Terminal, which still held the digieggs that she'd acquired during our fight against Ken as the Digimon Emperor.

"Your turn Digmon!" Cody called out as Puppetmon shouted in anger. He threw his hands out, and I could barely make out the strings that flew from them, heading right for Lillymon and Digitamamon. Before they could hit the two exhausted digimon the ground below them literally disappeared and the two dropped into a hole, obviously created by one of the armor forms of Armadillomon, Digmon.

"Now's your chance!" Yolei shouted towards Matt and T.K. who both nod, looking back towards Puppetmon, who's fuming while this is happening.

"Oh man, you had to go and take my new friends away!" He shouted towards us, fuming and about to start a new temper tantrum.

"Digimon you control in any way aren't your friends." Matt stated at the puppet digimon, giving him a cold look. As friendship was Matt's Crest he took a special interest in it any time that someone talked about friendship. He almost took it as a personal insult if someone like Puppetmon made claims of friendship like that.

"Shows what you know!" Puppetmon yelled back, and then jumped into the air, right at Matt, MetalGarurumon, T.K., and MagnaAngemon. "Puppet Pummel!" Puppetmon brought his hammer out and around, and rained energy blasts down upon the foursome.

"Watch out!" I shouted, despite the futility of yelling at that moment, it was too late. I just had to hope that MetalGarurumon and MagnaAngemon would be able to protect them. So far things didn't look so good though.

"Shurimon, stop that mad puppet!" Yolei shouted out, and I turned to tell her not to, Puppetmon might not have been the strongest Dark Master but he was still a Mega Level digimon, but I wasn't fast enough.

Shurimon had already nodded and jumped into the air at Puppetmon.

"Double Stars!" The armor digimon shouted out, its arms extending as the blades at the end of them started spinning. Puppetmon seemed not to notice at first, then…

"Flying Cross Cutter!" Puppetmon held onto his hammer, which was still firing, with one hand while the other took the wooden cross on his back and threw it right at Shurimon. Shurimon didn't have time to dodge, and fell to the ground, Hawkmon once more.

Cody turned to look at Digmon, but I noticed him before he could order Digmon into battle.

"Don't Cody, he's too powerful for Digmon to handle." I told him, as much as I wanted someone, anyone, to do something to help Matt and T.K. out.

"Flash Bancho Punch!" Almost at the exact moment I finished thinking that something shouted, and then Puppetmon was blown out of the air. The explosion caused by whatever had hit him was massive enough to block out the entire battlefield from my view. I could hear a little of what was going on, but not much. Gatomon was perking up though, her ears twitching as she strained to hear what was going on.

"What's happening in there?" Gomamon asked, finally breaking the silent spell that had fallen over all of us as Puppetmon had been attacked. Before Gatomon could respond something went flying out of the smoke caused by the explosion. Puppetmon landed in his head a few dozen feet away from the edge of the smoke, and slowly got back onto his feet. He seemed to be struggling pretty mightily, but was ignoring us for now. All of his attention was focused on the smoke that he had just been thrown from.

"Who's that?" Yolei asked suddenly, and I looked to see what she was referring to. A tall, man like digimon was walking out of the smoke. As he got closer I could make out more details about him. At first I thought it was our old friend Leomon, but this digimon was subtle different. He had a large black coat draped over his shoulders, some sort of hat or visor on his head, and a short sword in his hands. His hair wasn't the normal golden color that I associated with Leomon, but rather it was white, almost as if this was an older Leomon.

"I have no idea…" I replied, but Gatomon laughed.

"I do." She said, and we all looked at her. "That's BanchoLeomon. He's one of the Mega forms of Leomon. He serves his own interpretation of justice, and defeats anyone who stands in the way of that justice with his Flash Bancho Punch or his short sword, Dankon."

"BanchoLeomon?" I asked, a little in awe of the digimon in front of us. He just seemed to ooze power as he continued a slow, measured gait towards Puppetmon.

"Yep. I've heard stories about BanchoLeomon, but I've never seen one in person." Gatomon replied as BanchoLeomon stopped in front of Puppetmon.

"I'm going to get you for interrupting my game of destroy the digidestined!" Puppetmon shouted towards the lion man, though he was barely standing with the support of his hammer.

"I will not allow you to harm the digidestined." BanchoLeomon replied, holding his sword out in front of him. His voice sounded very familiar to me, as did the way he was holding the sword.

"Hey Joe, doesn't he sound exactly like…" Gomamon started to ask, but Mimi finished for him.

"Leomon!" She exclaimed from where she was holding onto the exhausted Palmon. "It's our old friend!"

"He does sound the same…" Joe replied, and I saw him looking at the digimon in question thoughtfully. Then there was a giant clang, and I turned back to see that Puppetmon had jumped into attacking BanchoLeomon, who threw him right off with a parry of his sword. "But didn't our Leomon digivolve into SaberLeomon?

"Sometimes a digimon can have alternative digivolutions." Gatomon said suddenly. "I've heard of times when a digimon's higher levels changed into one of a different digivolution line, though it's apparently very rare."

That sounded like it might be possible to me. The others had told me about the time my brother had accidentally caused Agumon to digivolve into SkullGreymon, though neither SaberLeomon nor BanchoLeomon seemed to be an evil digimon like SkullGreymon was.

"Be gone puppet!" BanchoLeomon shouted, swinging his sword around. "King Lion!" A wave of energy swept out from his sword as he swung it around, hitting Puppetmon and sending the digimon flying backwards. Puppetmon struggled back to his feet.

"I don't like this game anymore!" He said as he finally got back to his feet.

"No one asked to play your games in the first place." BanchoLeomon replied calmly, stepping towards the puppet digimon. "And now I'm going to make sure you don't bother anyone again."

"I don't think so!" Puppetmon shouted suddenly, jumping away from BanchoLeomon with more energy than I thought he had left. "Cherrymon!" Suddenly dozens of the trees that were behind Digitamamon's diner started to move, and I was shocked to see that they were all tall tree like digimon that I had never seen before.

"Cherry Bomb!" The digimon all started firing cherries from their branches, right at BanchoLeomon, who jumped to avoid the attacks. In the ensuing chaos that resulted I noticed Puppetmon making an escape, surviving.

"Flash Bancho Punch!" BanchoLeomon sent an attack at one of the Cherrymon, hitting right in front of the digimon rather than hitting it, and the Cherrymon went flying. Unfortunately the others all moved to attack him at the same instant, and he was surrounded.

"Gold Rush!" Five drills hit several of the Cherrymon, causing them to misfire and hit some of the other Cherrymon rather than BanchoLeomon. Digmon stood facing the Cherrymon, several of whom turned towards him as they started to recover.

"King Lion!" Before any of the could do anything BanchoLeomon swept in a circle, hitting all the Cherrymon with his sword attack, and sending all of them flying away from him, and the area we were in. Silence seemed to descend upon the clearing, for a second, then…

"JOE!" T.K.'s voice cut through the silence, drawing everyone's eyes to where he and Matt and had been attacked by Puppetmon. Gabumon and Patamon were both on the ground, looking pretty beat up from the attack, but T.K. was leaning over Matt, and I could make out the glint of the sun on a lot of red from where I was standing. Neither T.K. nor Matt were wearing red today.

I started moving towards the two of them, with only Joe having a faster reaction than me. He started sprinting almost as soon as T.K. shouted. The two of us got there as soon as we could, and I could see that blood was pouring out of Matt, much faster than I'd ever seen blood gush. I was instantly a little queasy as I saw that, I was never very good around blood.

"Kari, take this and cover up Matt's wound while I get some bandages out." Joe told me as he took off the jacket he'd worn when we left Gennai's. I took it and tried to cover up where I thought the injury was, but I couldn't be certain because of the blood.

"Put more pressure there!" Joe shouted at me as he started to rummage through his bag, and I tried to comply, but there was a lot of blood coming out of the wound.

The blood was not only making it hard to apply the pressure, but it was making me even more queasy this close to it. I'd never been very good around blood, but this was a new extreme.

"Kari, you've got to put more pressure on him, otherwise he'll lose too much blood." Joe said, right next to me this time, and I tried, oh how I tried, but the blood kept pouring out of him, and it seemed like I couldn't anything about it.

Then Joe was there with some bandages, and he pushed me out of the way. I knew he was just in a hurry, so I did my best to get out of the way. I watched Joe as he pressed down on Matt, far harder than I was, applying as much pressure as he could to slow down the bleeding.

"Kari?" I heard a voice ask next to me, and I turned to see T.K. standing there. He had a few scratches, several of which were bleeding but not seriously. "Here, let me take that."

He reached over and took the blood stained jacket out of my hands, which were also covered in blood now.

I didn't know how he could be so clear headed right now, with his brother lying there, bleeding on the ground. I know I'd barely been able to do anything when Tai had been hurt, even an hour afterwards, and that was when we could still get to a hospital in the real world. I needed to quit being so weak and be there for T.K. He probably was in shock, just doing a better job of hiding it than I was.

He dropped the jacket to the ground, and it took me a second to realize that he was shaking and hadn't dropped the jacket on purpose. I wrapped an arm around him, and pulled him into a hug as we both sank down to the ground. I could feel his entire body shaking as I held him, and I did my best to try and comfort him there.

I held him for a few seconds before the shaking stopped, and he looked at me.

"I'm going to get up now." He said, and I just nodded, his voice somewhat calm and even, not the cracked or panicked voice I half expected him to have. I remembered how panicked I'd been when Tai had been hurt, so I knew a little how he felt.

So needless to say I was confused at first as he stood up, no longer shaking, and started to get Yolei, Cody, and Mimi doing something to help out, starting with finding shelter.

I was a little shocked as he took charge and got everyone moving towards actually getting something done. I almost felt bad as I thought that, but T.K. was never really given the opportunity to be a leader with us digidestined. I mean, he and I did a little bit of leadership during the fight against the Digimon Emperor, but that had been more like showing Davis, Yolei, and Cody how to be digidestined than actually leading them. Davis took over, other than the one time we all left him behind when finding Ken's base and no one looked back.

After Ken joined the team, T.K. didn't even get the de facto second in command status that his brother had during our first adventure because Ken took that over as Davis's DNA digivolution partner. So he'd never really had a chance to show what he could do as a leader.

Well, he was doing it now.

"We need to find somewhere else to wait besides here in the open." T.K. said to Yolei, Cody, and Mimi, who were all paying attention to him though Mimi was glancing towards Matt every couple of seconds. "Yolei, you and Mimi start looking around for someplace that we can stay for a while. Cody, you come over and help Joe. Kari and I will also look for somewhere to hold up…" T.K. said, glancing at me to make sure I was ok with that. I nodded at him, and then felt something moving next to us.

I looked over to see BanchoLeomon standing there, having walked over to where we talking. He looked over to T.K., waiting for him to turn to look at him. I decided to speed the process up, and cleared my throat to gain T.K.'s attention. He turned, and immediately saw BanchoLeomon.

"I'm sorry I could not arrive sooner digidestined." BanchoLeomon said looking around at all of us as he said this, and I began to be certain this was the same Leomon we'd known during our first adventure.

"Is that you in there Leomon?" Mimi asked before anyone else could say anything to the large digimon.

The lion man digimon looked at Mimi and nodded. "It is indeed. The Sovereigns gave me the ability to reach the Mega level once more when Piedmon returned, asking me to help protect this sector." BanchoLeomon told us. "I do not know why I entered this form rather than SaberLeomon, but I am not one to complain about the gifts bestowed upon me."

Mimi smiled as the Mega level digimon said this, but the smile quickly left her face as she glanced back to where Matt was still being looked at by Joe. BanchoLeomon looked over as well, and seemed to see Matt for the first time, as he stared at him and Joe for a few seconds.

"We need to get all of you out of the open, in case the puppet returns." BanchoLeomon said, turning towards all of us.

T.K. nodded and stepped forward as BanchoLeomon said this.

"We were just about to start looking for a place to do that when you came over here." He informed the digimon.

"I know of a place which should be safe from Puppetmon." BanchoLeomon replied, looking over all of us again. "It is not too far away, and most of you should be able to make the journey."

"Matt can ride between Angemon and Angewomon, that worked when we had to transport Tai." I said, knowing exactly who BanchoLeomon was referring to when he was thinking of who couldn't make the journey. The digimon looked right at me for a second, and then nodded.

"Very well, we should leave immediately." He said to us, earning more nods from us. T.K. and I went right over to Matt, followed by Mimi. I knew T.K. wasn't ok, no matter what front was put on, and I hoped more than anything that Joe had some good news for us.

I didn't want him to go through anything like what I'd gone through when Tai had been hospitalized. I knew he and Matt weren't the closest of brothers, but they'd been getting closer since we'd started dating. Him spending more time with me partially translated to more time with Matt, since he was my brother's best friend, and would spend a good amount of the time he wasn't practicing at our apartment. Also the fact that they went to the same school for the first time helped things.

All of that together had to have him feeling even more connected to his brother than normal, so he was sure to be feeling somewhat like I had.

We walked up to Joe, who looked up as we approached him. Joe looked exhausted, but not defeated.

"How is he Joe?" T.K. asked as he stepped up beside his brother.

"He should be ok, with a few days' rest. We managed to stop the bleeding before he lost too much blood, and is uninjured other than that." Joe said, and I felt a sense of relief flow through my body. I could see the look on T.K.'s face, mirroring the feeling going through my body. "That being said, he's going to be weak for several days. He still lost a lot of blood, and I don't have any way to replace the blood, so he's going to have to take it easy."

T.K. nodded again, looking past Joe at his brother.

"Do you know when he'll wake up?"

"No. It could be in a few minutes, or a few hours." Joe replied, shrugging.

"Ok, Thanks Joe." T.K. said patting the doctor to be on the shoulder. Joe just nodded, to tired it looked to do anything else. "Is he ok to be moved?"

"What?" Joe asked, surprised by that question.

"We can't stay here in the open, especially with Matt already injured. We need to find some shelter while we figure out what's going on." T.K. replied, looking at the older boy. "BanchoLeomon has someplace we can take shelter for a bit."

Joe looked like he was going to argue at first, but after T.K. finished he closed his mouth, looking thoughtful instead.

"I guess some shelter would be better for him than being stuck in the woods camping again…" Joe said, barely loud enough for me to hear, which led me to believe that he was talking to himself. He then looked back at T.K. "He should be ok to move, as long as it isn't too fast, or rough."

T.K. in turn nodded, looking down to where the digimon were all resting after the fight. Hopefully they'd have the strength to get Matt where we were headed.

After that things went pretty quickly. We built a stretcher for Matt so he could be carried, and then Patamon and Gatomon both digivolved. They were able to carry the stretcher with no problem. The rest of us travelled on Aquilamon and Ankylomon since Hawkmon and Armadillomon had the most remaining energy (we'd discovered that armor digivolving took less energy than normal digivolution, since they were heavily assisted by the digiegg).

We travelled for about half an hour when we reached a massive mountain that was in the center of a forest. You couldn't see the mountain, despite its size, until you were almost going up it thanks to the surrounding trees.

BanchoLeomon led us to a cave entrance, and then into the cave. We thought that he'd been leading us to the cave but he told us our destination was deeper in, so we all followed him in.

The cave turned out to be a tunnel, and the mountain itself turned out to be hollow. We discovered this as we entered the main portion of it. The cave we had been travelling through suddenly opened up into a massive and lit chamber. I looked around in amazement as all of us stopped.

My eyes were drawn straight up to the opening at the top of the massive cavern we were in. It was open and allowing sunlight to fall down into the cavern. This alone wouldn't have illuminated most of the cavern, but the walls were lined with some sort of lights that was helping to illuminate the entire cavern.

As my eyes travelled down the walls, they finally fell on the center of the cavern, and the large city that was sprawling out from the exact center of the cavern.

"Wow…" Yolei said as we all took in the scope of where we were standing.

"Welcome to Drill City." BanchoLeomon said as he made a sweeping gesture to include the entire town.

"Drill City?" I asked looking at the large grouping of buildings. It was certainly large enough to be a city, much larger than almost any city I'd seen in the digital world, except possibly Andromon's city.

"It is the central city of this part of Server, and the place that I am supposed to be protecting." BanchoLeomon said, and started to walk forward. "This cavern was discovered by a group of Digmon years ago before they became nearly extinct. They found an ancient temple at the center of it, and started building their homes around it. Eventually other types of digimon curious about this cavern, or the temple, or simply looking for somewhere to live started to come here. By that time the Digmon had all but died out and could not prevent the other digimon from moving in. A few years later and this was the largest city in Server."

"That's amazing." Cody said in wonder as we moved closer to the city. As we got closer I could make out more details. Most of the buildings seemed to be made of the same material as the cavern we were in, which made sense since it was the most immediately available resource. I also noticed the defenses.

A little distance away from the city a low wall seemed to have been recently constructed, and behind the wall were a number of Tankmon, all tracking us as we approached.

"Is there supposed to be a big group of Tankmon taking aim at us?" T.K. asked before I could alert everyone to the digimon.

"Yes. Those digimon are volunteers for the city defense force." BanchoLeomon replied. "If they didn't know we were friends they would have fired on us already. Right now they're most likely just practicing setting up targeting."

"I wish they'd practice on someone else…" Mimi said quietly, holding onto one of her arms as we continued to approach the city. Once we reached the defenses the Tankmon stopped tracking us, and a few even cheered as we passed by. They must have felt some encouragement from us being the digidestined, after all we had saved the world a few times already.

Inside the city things escalated. It looked like most of the city had come out to greet us as we entered, and we were slowed considerably by the digimon surrounding us. A few blocks into the city and we were met by the ruler of the city, a warrior digimon called Grademon. He, thankfully, got most of the crowd to disperse, and, after talking with BanchoLeomon, led us to some lodgings were we could stay for a while.

It didn't take us long to get settled in, and thankfully the digimon of the city were respectful of what Grademon said and gave us some space (though the pair of Knightmon guarding the door to the building we were in may have contributed to the discouragement of any curious 'mon.).

Joe settled the still unconscious Matt onto one of the beds that occupied our room, and the rest of us just found someplace to be. Joe almost immediately fell asleep, but T.K. didn't let any of the rest of us do that.

"Ok, now that we're here, we need to figure out what to do next." He said, not long after BanchoLeomon had left and Joe had passed out.

"Why don't we wait for Matt and Joe to wake up before we make any plans." Mimi said from where she was leaning back against the bed Matt was in.

"Because some pretty big things have changed." T.K. replied, and that got me thinking. My brother had told me over and over the last few years that I had to be able to be independent, and think for myself and others on occasion. Those, they weren't really lessons but encouragements, allowed me to realize exactly what T.K. was talking about, right away.

"Like what? Matt getting injured?" Mimi asked, and I answered for T.K.

"Like us not really being safe anymore. That's the whole reason we left my brother and the others behind, so we could be safe, not get hurt." I told her, and T.K. gave me a smile.

"There's also the fact that if Puppetmon is back that means that MetalSeadramon and Machinedramon are both probably back, and if they aren't following us, where do you think they are?" T.K. added after I paused.

"They could be attacking the others…" Cody said, being the first to get what T.K. was thinking. The others let this information sink in. Yolei was the first person to speak up after that comment.

"I see what both of you are saying, but we can't go anywhere until Matt's healed a bit, and that won't be for at least a few days." She said, looking back and forth between me and T.K. "I think we can probably wait until Matt wakes up to figure out what to do next."

Yolei made a really good point, and even though T.K. was filling in as our leader he couldn't force any of us to do anything. Our leader was never a dictator, just the person who we followed most of the time.

"Ok, that's a good point Yolei." T.K. said, I guess either following my logic or just not wanting to be confrontational. "We could all use a little rest anyways." He smiled at the end, and the rest of us smiled back.

We'd managed to survive again, with hopefully only minor injuries, so there was a reason to be a little happy.

"Ok, so we'll all rest for a bit." T.K. said, yawning as he did.

"And then we can check out the city!" Mimi suddenly exclaimed, and I had to shake my head. I knew exactly what Mimi was thinking of in the city.

"Then we can check out the city…" T.K. replied as he laid his head against my shoulder.

_Well there you go. I'm actually really kinda excited about where this is going. Drill City sorta just came out of nowhere, but I really started to like it as I wrote it, which means it'll be used more than I originally planned for this part of the story, which means longer story. Yay!_

_Ok, so now I'm sure you guys want your preview, so here goes._

_**Preview:**_

"_The best place would be to look along this area." Izzy said, using his hand to gesture along a particular part of the map._

"_Ok, what are we waiting for?" Davis asked, looking at the area Izzy had pointed out. "Let's get going and find ourselves this temple!"_

"_It's not that simple Davis." I said, looking at hi, Izzy, and the map._

"_What do you mean?" The younger goggle wearer asked me._

"_Well, that entire area is controlled by Piedmon." _

_**Review Replies:**_

_Matani: I'm glad you did! and yea, the lack of sleep sucked a lot, and fortunately that hasn't happened so badly in a while now. And don't feel selfish, every reader always wants more updates, which is completely understandable. And I'm bringing it in as something from the past. There will be no Saibas in this story, and nothing else directly from V-Tamers (other than the Digimental) . And yea, thanks again for point all of those out, I was more than a little out of it when I was writing and editing it. And yea, I thought it was good, though I did kinda borrow it from the Revenge of Diaboromon, but that just ties it in with the show more I think. And sorry for the long delay._

_Pontiac56: Thanks! and you should check it out. You can actually read the manga online, and it's a pretty good read in my opinion. And yea, I like it a lot more. The Matt and Mimi thing is a little different. I'm kinda indifferent to who Mimi's with (based on the show Adventure I'd say she should be with Joe, but if a story develops her relationship with one of the other guys she can be with pretty much any of them) but I need her and Matt together for the sequel, so it gets to happen lol. And sorry for the long delay._

_The other Guy: Told you they'd be gone quick, just like the show. And I thought so as well (like I said lol) And yes, you're absolutely correct. Kari is next, since she's the longest without. And ok, I remembered this time as well, and got it in during the early morning, so ha! Commenting is always good. You can do whatever you want, though I'll always like longer/more reviews, just fyi. And you should check it out, the manga is available online, you just have to put in V-Tamer manga in google, and you can find it. And you can tell TaioraWarrior yourself, he usually reads the other reviews, though he wasn't so excited I told you that…I think he was surprised lol. And I really do enjoy them, though when time crunched it's a little annoying to type out the review reply, but only a little, the enjoyment of the reading the review, and coming up with a reply usually is much more interesting than annoying lol. Nice, and yea, things should be getting more and more intense until we hit the climax, that's the plan at least. And at least 200…I really would like to hit at least 200, though more is always nice. I like numbers…lol. And sorry about the long delay._

_TaioraWarrior: Why wouldn't I tell him? It makes things like ten times more fun for me! Lol. And I know, I'm just trying to motivate you a little bit, for purely selfish liking to read long review reasons. And he does claim, but we'll see. Only time will tell with this one, and luckily there is plenty of story left lol. Yea, he's my favorite Dark Master as well, I found his humor to be the best, so I tried to duplicate as much of it as I could. And I wouldn't give in on Daemon just yet. I've never actually said Piedmon is the final bad guy, and there is a sequel…that means another bad guy…and yea, though I actually don't dream that often, that doesn't prevent me from offering a new Adventure/V-Tamer view. And, yea, good times, though technically Birdramon saved both of them…lol. And sorry about the long delay._

_LyraXEthan: Thanks! and I won't say yes or no straight up, but it's definitely a big possibility. After all the Digimental has to do something…and sorry about the long delay._

_twilightromance4ever: Thanks! and sorry about the long delay._

_Supershooter: Thanks! and hopefully it was interesting enough, things should keep that way for a while. And sorry about the long delay._

_Odinson83: Thanks! and feel free to look if you want, it's all open and public, otherwise it should be PMed not reviewed. Thanks again, and I was sorta just thinking that parents wouldn't want their kids to grow up like Matt and be a rock star and stuff…I was on too little sleep and it made sense at the time…and yes, it was indeed based on V-Tamers, in fact lifted directly from V-Tamers would be the right term lol. And sorry about the long delay._

_Lachelle92: Thanks! and yea, I thought the dramatics would have people interested lol. And sorry about the long delay._

_The other Guy: Review reply power…is not working so well…ops…and yes, that is my intent with that line. It seemed perfect at that moment, and I've decided to run with it. Wait till you see everyone else's reaction to it…lol. My big thing with not doing anymore perspectives (and I've thought about this a lot) is the fact that I wouldn't get to everyone as much. 6 means everyone gets one chapter for them every six chapter, if not more. Adding to that would mean less of other people's perspectives, and I really didn't want to do that. On GigaSeadramon, I'm thinking of Magnamon as on par with WarGreymon in terms of power. It's really unclear exactly how powerful he is. As a royal knight he should be a Mega, but in Adventure he was about an ultimate. He's one of my favorites, so I tend to think more power, but I'm trying to compromise here, so I'm making him a mid-range mega as opposed to the high level mega his royal knightness calls for him to be. As for being defeated so easily, he's still a Dramon type, and therefore weak to WarGreymon, plus WarGreymon is a total badass. Therefore he dies easily…you know, I think you jinxed me with that last sentence…you just had to mention it again, and mess everything up…and yes, you can check reviews and PMs can be about anything._

_The other Guy: I'm not dead, and busy doesn't even begin to describe my last three weeks. Thanks for checking on me though!_

_JadeBrycin2116: Slight forgetfulness? Lol thanks! I aimed to double their length, even though it is the death of me on several weekend now lol. And thanks! I'm really going for that, so it's nice that I'm getting there! I'm sure Izzy will get lucky eventually, and yea, they can be a little buggy at times, but that's what makes them them. And thanks again! Thanks! and I'm sure if you tried you could get it to work. And no worries! Lol. And thanks again! Sorry there was such a long delay on the update._

_xOne N Onlyx: Thanks! And yea, it's much longer than usual, and I was, but I'm now freeish. And thanks again! Sorry for the delay!_


	22. The Last Master

_Well hello everyone. Sorry this is like at midday, but fan fiction decided that it didn't want to let me log in last night, so this is the first opportunity I've had to post. One other thing, I've decided to make a little organization addition to the power levels of digimon. Just a little something I thought up to explain how digimon of a level could out class other digimon of the same level so easily. It's explained by Gennai in this chapter. If you have any questions, or you think I'm a moron for doing something like that, feel free to shoot me a message._

_**Last Timeish:**__ Tai and his group were successfully able to locate a temple where a major clue to the location of the Digimental was. Unfortunately GigaSeadramon was also there, and tried to stop them. Eventually they were able to defeat GigaSeadramon, and find a tablet at the center of the temple, which should be the clue they were looking for._

_Disclaimer: This is actually a claimer, I own digimon. Or maybe not…who really know? ahahahahahahahahahahaha_

**Chapter 22 The Last Master Revealed**

_Tai_

WarGreymon spun in place, bringing his clawed arm around to hit his opponent, who quickly blocked the attack. WarGreymon shifted to his other arm, attempting to use his speed to hit his opponent. Unfortunately for him, his opponent was just as fast as him, if not faster, and blocked the attack.

His opponent counterattacked, forcing WarGreymon to jump backwards to avoid the punch he was throwing. WarGreymon got the space he needed, and then launched a counterattack of his own. His opponent had speed on him, but WarGreymon had reach, thanks to his Dramon Destroyers.

"Mega Claw!" WarGreymon lunged forward, putting a massive amount of force behind one attack, which his opponent couldn't dodge for all of his speed. He crossed his arms to block the attack, but my partners attack sent him flying back into the wall.

"Gotcha!" I shouted gleefully, turning to Davis who had a look of disappointment on his face. Across the courtyard at the center of Gennai's house WarGreymon was helping Magnamon to his feet from where he'd been thrown out of bounds to end the sparring match between the two of them.

I suppose a little explaining would do some good, as I'm sure everyone's a little confused. It's about a week after we defeated GigaSeadramon and claimed the tablet from the temple there. I would have expected some sort of progress in our search for the Digimental by now, but we were actually worse off than when we first found the tablet.

I know, I don't really get it either, but somehow we were. Izzy and Gennai were able to translate the tablet, and found out that it's only a section of the whole. We have a part of a tablet, not an entire tablet. Apparently (or at least, what Izzy and Gennai have said) the original tablet telling the location of the Digimental was split into three parts (funny, how there are three other Dark Masters besides Piedmon and three tablets…I think the digiworld really does hate us…) in order to protect it. Now we didn't have a single lead on where to search for the other two tablets, so we were stuck here.

Davis asking questions about Piedmon had led us to have our digimon spar.

~Flashback~

We were lounging around in the kitchen; I was cooking (YES I COOK!) with some help from Ken while the others were sitting around the table talking.

"Hey Gennai, how come WarGreymon couldn't take on Piedmon, I mean, aren't they both Mega level digimon?" Davis asked, gaining everyone's attention. I knew of course that the difference was experience. Piedmon had been fighting far longer than WarGreymon and knew the best ways to use his power.

"They are both Megas yes, but they are not the same." Gennai replied, taking a sip from the glass of something that was in front of him. "Each level is divided into three tiers. Low, middle and high."

"What?" I asked, finally being completely distracted from my cooking. I'd never heard this before, and the looks from the others told me the same thing. Gennai looked a little confused at the looks that all of us were giving him.

"Did I never tell you about the tiers?" He asked, earning him a chorus of no's from us. "Oh, my apologies. Each level is divided into different tiers within the level, low, middle, and high."

"Ok, what's so special about these tiers then?" Davis asked while the rest of us focused on Gennai.

"Which tier a digimon belongs in depends on its power, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon are both Middle Tier Mega digimon, as was Piedmon." Gennai said, and that got me confused.

"But wait, I thought you said the reason he's able to beat us is the tiers?" I asked, confused as I mentioned earlier.

"Yes, digimon of a certain power are matched in a tier, but as they gain more experience they'd be classified as the upper portion of the tier." Gennai told us, "When you first encountered Piedmon he was an Upper Middle Tier Mega, while the other Dark Masters were all Upper Lower tier Megas. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon were both Lower Middle Tier Megas, meaning that Piedmon could defeat them easily and the other three could give them a good fight." Gennai paused for another sip from his drink, and then continued. "By the time you fought him in the last battle, WarGreymon had advanced to an experience level that put them in the middle of the Middle Tier, allowing them to actually fight Piedmon. By now I'd say WarGreymon is probably an Upper Middle Tier digimon."

"Alright! I rock!" Agumon shouted from where he was sitting at the table, excited to hear that news. I was excited as well, and we proceed to do our, we're the bomb dance, which is awesome.

"Ok, but that still doesn't answer my question." Davis said, interrupting our we're the bomb dance. "How is Piedmon able to beat him now if they're the same level and the same Tier?"

"That's because you assume Piedmon is on the same Tier." Gennai replied.

"Right, he said he'd been powered up." Izzy said, cutting off my confusion before it fully manifested.

"Exactly. Piedmon most likely has the power of a High Tier digimon, and the experience of an Upper High Tier digimon." Gennai said, looking up as he thought. "Omnimon, Alphamon, and the other Royal Knights are all High Tier digimon, as was Armageddemon and Imperialdramon Paladin Mode." Gennai said, and I felt my eyes go wide. Piedmon was that powerful? I mean, I knew he'd kicked our butt every time we fought him, but naming a few of the digimon we knew like that really put it in perspective.

"Hmm…" Davis said, looking thoughtful as the rest of us looked concerned. "So where's Magnamon on this tier thingy?"

Gennai looked at him, and shrugged.

"Magnamon isn't a normal digimon Davis." Gennai said looking over at Veemon. "He's an armor digimon, most of whom have the potential to be either a Champion or Ultimate level digimon, depending on how much experience they have."

"So he's an Ultimate?" Davis asked, and Gennai shook his head.

"You didn't let me finish. Magnamon is a very unique digimon. The power of the Golden Digiegg that allows him to digivolve is almost unlimited. He is also a Royal Knight, which means that…"

"Wait, what do you mean Royal Knight?" Davis shouted, cutting Gennai off mid-sentence.

"Magnamon is one of the thirteen Royal Knights, an organization of Holy Knight Digimon that were organized to help protect the digital world." Gennai said, looking at all of us.

"Really? Where are they now?" I asked, suspicious as to how they could say they protect the digital world when we were the ones stuck doing that.

"They all sacrificed their fully digivolved forms to defeat Daemon long ago in the past." Gennai replied, looking at all of us. I was confused as to whom this Daemon character was, but Ken seemed to realize who he was.

"Wait, Daemon? The one we imprisoned in the Dark Ocean?" He asked, looking at Davis for a second, before turning to Gennai.

"The very same. The Royal Knights trapped him in the Dark Ocean, though he eventually escaped." Gennai said, taking another sip from his drink.

"Wait, if he escaped once, couldn't he do it again?" Sora asked, speaking for the first time in the conversation.

"Yes, but that won't be for a long time in the future. We have to focus on one problem at a time." Gennai replied. "Now, as I was saying Magnamon can have the strength of a High Tier Mega digimon, if he can find the way to harness that power."

"What do you mean harness?" Davis asked, looking at Veemon. "Do I have to go buy a harness for Veemon?"

I really wanted to bang my head against a table at Davis's comment, but just settled for a facepalm.

"No, Magnamon needs to gain experience to know how to use his power and summon more of it in battle." Gennai replied, the only person besides Davis who wasn't currently facepalming.

"Ok, how do I get him more experience?" Davis asked, and Gennai laughed.

"That's simple, he has to earn it fighting digimon."

"But where are we going to find digimon to fight?" Davis asked, and I had a sudden idea.

"I've got it!" I exclaimed, getting looks from everyone.

"You've got what Tai?" Davis asked.

"We can train Magnamon, here!" I exclaimed, earning groans from Sora, Izzy, and Ken, while Davis cheered. I smiled, just before smelling and seeing the smoke that was coming from the food that I had been cooking, and neglecting.

"AHHHHHH!"

~End Flashback~

So that's how we came to sparring our digimon, to help Magnamon become stronger. He'd started off barely holding his own against WarGreymon, but now the two of them were almost completely evenly matched.

It was beneficial for both digimon though, not just Magnamon. They were both becoming stronger the more we sparred, and Agumon could even Warp Digivolve multiple times in a single day now.

"Oh man, I thought we could get you guys for sure that time…" Davis said, slightly disappointed. Magnamon mirrored his look of disappointment, and then both perked up. "How about a rematch?"

"I don't know…" I relied, looking at Davis and the digimon. Both digimon were panting slightly, but they didn't look too worse for wear.

"Oh come on, what else are we going to do?" Davis asked, and the truth of that statement really didn't feel great. I mean it didn't hurt or anything, but I was tired of doing nothing at all. I needed to act, I needed to stop Piedmon and his minions, and save the digital world. "Come on Tai, we're only going to get better if we practice more."

"Come on Tai." WarGreymon said, looking down at me.

"Alright, let's go again!" I declared, figuring that even if I can't do anything about Piedmon right now, I might as well be prepared for when I could do something.

~Later~

"Please tell me you've come up with something?" I asked Izzy as he and Ken came out of the back of Gennai's. Sora and I were lounging on the sofa of the living room, watching Davis and the digimon play poker. I was hoping that today Izzy, Ken, and Gennai would have come up with something.

"Nothing." Izzy replied, sounding tired and at least as exasperated as I was.

"How can you guys still not have found anything?" Davis asked, looking up from the card game. "I mean, we found that first tablet no problem."

"That was a fluke." Izzy replied, sitting down on the other sofa with a sigh. "Gennai had the information in his databanks, he just didn't think there was any reason to act on it. Now, there's no more information in his data banks." Izzy groaned once more, lying down on the sofa.

"I still think there are some things we could be doing." Ken said, gaining my attention.

"Like what Ken?" Sora asked, her attention also apparently grabbed by Ken's statement.

"Well, Piedmon's been steadily expanding his control all over Server, but he can't be everywhere at once." The blue haired boy said, getting my complete attention now. "Maybe we could work to break his influence in some of these sectors."

"YEA!" Davis shouted, startling me since I wasn't expecting it. "It'll be just like what we used to do when you were the digimon emperor Ken!"

I halfway expected that to be a very bad comment and Ken to get upset, but to my surprise he actually laughed.

"That's exactly what I was thinking Davis." Ken said in a laugh. "You guys were a real pain doing that, and I feel like it would be good to give Piedmon a taste of that pain."

"That's good and all Ken, but what happens if Piedmon does show up." Izzy asked, sounding like he'd said it a few times before. "We can't beat him right now, and we'd have a tough time getting away from him."

I thought Izzy had a good point, but I was also tired of doing nothing. We were just sitting here doing nothing, and that was starting to bug me, a lot. I got so deep in thought that I didn't even notice the fact that everyone was looking at me.

"Tai?" Sora shook me as she said my name, and I looked over at her.

"Huh?"

"We asked a question." Izzy said, and I just grinned like I always did when I was in this type of situation.

"Sorry, I kinda spaced, what did you ask?" I asked, earning a series of groans from the room.

"I wanted to know what you thought Tai." Izzy said, and I looked at the red haired digidestined.

"I think we should at least take a look at things, see if we can do anything." I said, looking at Izzy. Davis let out a cheer, but I held up a hand to stop his celebration. "Just a look for now. If we find somewhere that could work then we'll go. We can't just sit here waiting to find some magic solution, but we can't charge into a situation where we'd get caught by Piedmon."

Everyone mumbled an agreement, and we decided to find start using Gennai's digital map to find a good area to liberate the next morning. After that everyone settled down into what they considered relaxing. Ken and Izzy started playing a game of chess while Davis resumed his poker game with the digimon. Sora and I just laid back to where we had been resting peacefully before Izzy and Ken entered the room. The only person who was unaccounted for was Gennai.

_I wonder where he is…_ I thought to myself, just before a rather rude finger poked my rib.

"Hey, what was that for?" I asked Sora, and she just smiled at me.

"When did you start thinking that quickly to make a solution for everyone to be happy?" She asked instead, and I realized it was just to get my attention.

"I don't know, it just seemed to make the most sense." I replied, shrugging, and forcing Sora to slightly change her position laying against me in retaliation for her poke.

"Mhhmm." She mumbled back, and then snuggled closer to me, and I knew she'd probably be asleep in couple of minutes.

_Oh well, not like this is the first time she's fallen asleep on me…_ I thought to myself and shrugged internally. Things could certainly be worse.

~The Next Morning~

I awoke when Sora finally got up off of the sofa, stumbling towards the bathroom. I strangely felt completely rested, and ready to start the day, so instead of going back to sleep, like I normally did, I got up and went into the kitchen.

The entire house was empty (well, not really empty, but everyone was asleep so it felt like it was empty) and I didn't really feel like making any sort of breakfast since no one else would be up for a few more hours (Usually none of us got up before ten at the earliest, Davis slept as long as I usually did, and Izzy and Ken were computer nerds, they stayed up all night on Gennai's computers, and Sora would still sleep for a while longer since it was technically the weekend, the only time she slept in).

I made some oatmeal quickly, scarfed it down, and then got up out of the kitchen. At that point I realized the one big problem with me waking up early; there was absolutely nothing to do. I looked over at Sora sleeping on the sofa, and considered going back to sleep, but I wasn't tired at all.

I just turned and walked into the other part of the house, the part that contained Gennai's study and lab. No one was here either, telling me that Gennai had left some time after I'd passed out last night. The map table however was still on, displaying the digital world, and I was slightly surprised to see the tablet lying on the table.

I ignored the tablet for now, having already spent some time staring at the gibberish (to me it was gibberish at least) on it. I paid more attention to the map table. Gennai had shown me how to work it when I was obsessed with following Piedmon's activities the first couple of days where we didn't have anything to do.

I manipulated the controls to show the entire continent of Server with only a little difficulty, and then began looking over the territory Gennai had identified as belonging to Piedmon. I spent the next couple of hours just looking at all the different sectors, trying to find out anything about them, and I honestly felt really cool.

I still had enough of my younger self in me to remember doing this with computer games at home, trying to plan all the cool strategies to take out the enemies. I looked everywhere, trying to get a head start on finding a territory that would make Izzy and Davis happy. One area in particular kept my attention.

It was called Drill City, which led me to believe that there was some sort of major city in that sector, and it was flashing. I'm pretty sure that meant that it was under attack, which meant that one of Piedmon's generals was probably attacking it (Piedmon didn't exactly allow the digimon of a sector to last long enough to resist) so it would be a pretty safe bet to go there and be able to help people without Piedmon interfering.

I left the map open to the area and started walking around the table, looking at it from all angles. I had a tendency to need something to occupy my hands with when I did this, so I picked up the tablet, just to occupy my hands while I paced around.

After about ten minutes of this I got a little bored, and started looking at the tablet once more. It really was pretty cool looking thing. It was roughly diamond shaped, with a red crystal in the center of it, and another part of one at the bottom of it. I looked over it again, trying to see if any of the gibberish made sense to me now (it didn't) and just trying to occupy my bored self.

On a whim I held the tablet up to the window, trying to see through the crystal, and got a bit of a shock.

"AAHHHHHHH!" I shouted, dropping the tablet as a bright beam of light hit my eye. The shout was enough to wake up the entire house, and a few seconds later everyone was in the study, all of them looking pretty disheveled.

"Tai!" Sora said, kneeling down next to me as I held my eye. The pain was mostly gone, and it hadn't really been that bad, just very surprising.

"What happened Tai?" Davis asked, just before stifling a yawn.

"I was looking at the tablet, and I held it up to the window. The crystal shot out a really bright light, and it hit me in the eye." I told them, earning a laugh from Davis (promptly silence with a glare from Sora).

Izzy however picked up the tablet, and held it up to the light. The sunlight hit it and a beam of focused red light shot out from it. The light spread out as it got away from the tablet, and by the time it hit the floor, more of the digital world language was on the ground.

"Prodigious!" Izzy exclaimed, looking at the writing. "Davis, come hold this." Davis did as he was told, and Izzy, Ken, and Gennai all crowded around the writing, scribbling it down. After a few minutes they were at the computers, typing away furiously at them. My eye was back to being able to see, so I went over to the map table, along with Davis and Sora. No one was getting back to sleep right now.

"So, where's this?" Davis asked, looking at the map table while we waited.

"It's called Drill City, I was thinking we could go there for a mission." I replied, and began to explain to him and Sora exactly what I'd been doing that morning.

"Tai!" Izzy suddenly exclaimed, and I looked over to him.

"Yea Izzy?"

"We've found it!" he exclaimed, and I gave him a look.

"Found what Izzy?"

"The next temple!" Izzy replied.

"What?"

"Where!"

"HOW?"

Instead of answering he went to the map and manipulated it, showing a different sector, this one under Piedmon's control, though only fairly recently.

"The Temple is in this sector." Izzy replied, "And according to the information from the crystal, the best place to look would be along this area." Izzy said, using his hand to gesture along a particular part of the map, what looked like a series of canyons.

"Ok, what are we waiting for?" Davis asked, looking at the area Izzy had pointed out. He was already buzzing with energy from this discovery. "Let's get going and find ourselves this temple!"

"It's not that simple Davis." I said, looking at him, Izzy, and the map.

"What do you mean?" The younger goggle wearer asked me.

"Well, that entire area is controlled by Piedmon." I replied, knowing that our luck was continuing to hold with this development.

"Well, we still have to go there and get the tablet." Davis replied, and then glanced back to where the digimon had finally been woken up by our commotion. "Anyways, Veemon can handle any of the lackeys that Piedmon will have in that area."

Davis looked at me expectantly, and I noticed that everyone else was doing pretty much the same. They were waiting for me to speak and make a decision.

_Well, you wanted to be the leader hotshot…wait, I've always been the leader…oh never mind…_ I confusedly thought to myself.

"Ok, we'll go check it out, and get the tablet." I said finally, and everyone nodded.

~Later~

The flight out to the sector was fairly uneventful. Birdramon and Kabuterimon transported all of us, and we went in at a pretty high altitude. I figured being up at such a height would allow us to sneak past most of the guards that Piedmon had in the sectors between us and the one that held the temple. Eventually however I knew we were going to have to get lower, and that's where our problems would start.

Izzy and Kabuterimon were leading the way, since Izzy had his computer displaying our position on a map, and I watched as they started to head towards the ground.

"Alright! We're almost there!" Davis exclaimed as we started to dive down. I didn't reply to Davis's comment, preferring to instead focus on where we were diving down to. I could feel myself getting more serious as the seconds went by and we got closer to actually hitting the ground.

Suddenly Kabuterimon swerved to the side, and an explosion hit where he'd been flying a second before. We were close enough to the ground now that I could a number of Tankmon aiming up at us, along with a number of smaller dragon like digimon that were aiming guns at us.

"Eh, What the!" Davis shouted as he got a good look at the digimon shooting at us. "Is that the freaking army down there?"

All of them opened fire just after Davis said that, and Birdramon was hard pressed to avoid getting hit by the attacks, and all of us were forced to hold on for our lives. I could barely see that Kabuterimon was in pretty much the same situation. I had to do something about this.

"Agumon!" I called out as I held on to Birdramon.

"Tai!" He replied, just a little ways away from me.

"Follow my lead!" I shouted, and I caught a glimpse of him nodding.

_This is either going to go really well, or really bad._ I thought to myself before taking a deep breath and letting go of Birdramon. I fell right off of her, and I heard shouts from above me.

"TAI!" Sora shouted as I fell, but that was followed almost immediately by an "AGUMON!"

I could see my partner just above me, and I pulled out my digivice.

"Agumon! Digivolve!" I shouted through the rushing air as we fell.

"Agumon Warp digivolve to!" Agumon was incased in bright light, and I really hoped that he hurried up, because we were quickly running out of air in which to fall. "WarGreymon!"

WarGreymon swopped down and I landed on his back, just a few dozen meters above the ground.

"Man that was close." I said, breathing a sigh of relief. That's when the bullets started flying. The digimon that had attacked us before were now firing at me and WarGreymon, and we were much easier targets this close to the ground.

"Hold on Tai!" WarGreymon shouted, flying forward at incredible speed. He landed behind some rocks, and I jumped off of his back. He then jumped back over the rocks, landing between the advancing digimon and me. There were hundreds of them, and they all aimed right at him, and I suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.

"Terra Force!" WarGreymon sent a massive fireball at the gathered digimon, destroying a giant swathe of them in the middle with a single attack.

I'd forgotten that he had attacks like that with all of the sparring we'd done over the last week or so…oops.

Before any of the Tankmon or the other digimon could move, WarGreymon dashed forward, claws out. He rushed through the group knocking out digimon left and right as moved through them effortlessly. The Tankmon tried to track him and hit him with their cannons, but they only ended up hitting their comrades, as WarGreymon was moving too fast for them to hit. He made quick work of the entire group, dispatching all of them with a speed and power I had never seen out of him.

He landed in front of me after flying right past the last Tankmon, who dissolved into data particles behind him.

"WarGreymon! That was awesome!" I exclaimed to my partner, who rubbed the back of his head with one of his claws, which I recognized as my own embarrassed stance.

"Thanks Tai." He replied before he started to glow and shrunk down to Agumon. "Jumping off of Birdramon was a pretty cool idea to!"

I couldn't help but get excited as Agumon and I congratulated each other. I hadn't done something that fun in such a long time, and now I wanted to try something like it again.

"TACHI KAMIYA!" A voice shouted, and I looked at Agumon.

"Think you got one more battle in you?" I asked him and he quickly shook his head.

"I'd rather take on Machinedramon right now than Sora, you're on your own." He replied, diving out of the way as Birdramon landed in front of us.

"Coward!" I shouted after him, and then quickly turned to where Sora was climbing down from Birdramon.

"Are you insane?" She shouted at me, and I shook my head. "Then why did you think it was a good idea to fight all those digimon after you fell off Birdramon like that? After Agumon jumped after you to save you, you went and made him fight all on his own."

All the responses I had for her died in my brain. She must not have heard me tell Agumon to follow my lead, which meant that…

"But Tai tol…" I quickly shut Agumon's mouth forcefully as he started talking. He obviously didn't realize that we weren't really in trouble yet, as long as Sora didn't find out we did that on purpose we'd be fine.

"Well, I didn't really think about that…" I said, and Sora got visibly angrier, she really didn't like it when I acted impulsively like this, even though it was happening less often these days. "…but all's well the ends well?"

Sora looked at me, hmmphed, and then gave me a big huge. That surprised me a lot, but I returned it.

"Don't you ever fall off my digimon again Tai…" She told me, and I could swear I heard her voice cracking like it did when she was crying. I just held her for a second, and then I was rudely interrupted.

"Now isn't this touching?" A mechanical voice asked, and we all spun around towards the source of the voice. The sight that greeted me was one I really didn't want to see ever again.

A giant digimon was standing not too far from us. He looked very similar to Machinedramon, which gave me a very bad idea as to what his identity was. He was covered in red armor as opposed to the metallic colored armor Machinedramon had. His head had a horn sticking out of it, and his mouth was filled with hundreds of sharp teeth. His cannons were reversed, facing down his back. Oh yea, and he was _bigger_ than Machinedramon was, towering over all of us by a huge margin.

"Uh, Izzy, who is that?" I asked as the digimon started to cackle. Izzy typed away at his computer, then gulped and looked over at me.

"That's Chaosdramon, an improved version of Machinedramon. He's covered in Red-Digizoid armor, giving him tremendous defensive powers. Watch out for his Hyper Infinity Cannon, it'll wipe you out." Izzy said, looking up at the monster in front of us.

"Piedmon thought you might come here after we found out you'd been at a temple when you destroyed GigaSeadramon." Chaosdramon said, just staring at us. "So he sent me to make sure you never left!"

"I don't like the sound of that." I said, pulling my digivice out, "Looks like you'll get your wish Agumon!"

"Right!" He replied, jumping forward.

"I don't think so, Hyper Infinity Cannon!" Machinedramon shouted out, the two massive cannons on his back swinging forward. The released two powerful beams of energy that hit just in front of our group and sent all of us flying. We were sent flying with enough force that I blacked out shortly after hitting the ground. I could only see the falling debris from the attack as the world around me went dark.

_And done. There we go. All the Dark Master reintroduced, sort of. So I wonder what will happen to Tai and the others. Will they be able to defeat Chaosdramon? Find out two times from no!_

_**Preview: **_

"_You've got to check this place out Matt!" Mimi exclaimed, dragging me down the street. "It's got the best food you'll ever try, at least that's what T.K. said."_

"_Have you not checked it out yourself?" I asked, looking at the brown haired girl. That was very unlike her not to have tried every store and restaurant in a town after just a few hours here._

"_Uh…well…i…uh…haven't had time." Mimi stammered out, earning a laugh from Gomamon._

"_She means she didn't leave your room longer than a trip to a bathroom the entire time you were out." Gomamon said, just before Palmon wrapped him up in her vines._

"_What?" I asked, looking over the furiously blushing Mimi._

_**Review Replies**__:_

_LyraXEthan: Thanks! and yea me to. As much as I like Davis I was always disappointed that T.K. never stood up to the leadership position in 02._

_Matani: Thanks! hopefully you won't have to worry about a wait like that again. Thanks! I thought it would be good to alternate like that. I know sometimes you're really curious as to what's happening to the other group when a story only focuses on one group, so I tried to avoid that. And thanks. It made the most sense to me, and a decent strategy for the sovereign's, for once. And yea, he'll explain in his waking moments. And it is. I was so confused at first when I was reading V-Tamers, but it does work out very well._

_TheOtherGuy4544: I have no idea who this is. Who are you? haha. Yea, I imagine being dead wouldn't feel so great. Puppetmon will "last the longest" but he won't be in every chapter. So far he's actually had the shortest screen time of any of the masters, and he'll only really figure prominently in one chapter. What were you're other two reasons? I'll tell you how close they were. You're giving me more incentive to reply, since I do like reviews. And 200 is my minimum. Getting 200 in this time is a huge accomplishment, hell getting 100 is an accomplishment, simply because digimon is (sadly) not as popular as it used to be. And it'll be good, though this chapter he didn't get the opportunity for it, wait until next time. And yea, hopefully you like the Tier system I made up. I think it makes lots of sense, and what not, but not everyone will agree with me I'm sure. And for the sequel I'd say there will be either 13 or 14 perspectives…though each one will not get their own chapter to work with. _

_TaioraWarrior: Well, yea, they always did that with some of the better villians. And I'm going to keep apologizing, I don't like disappointing people. And I'll just mock you in my reviews of your story lol. Thanks! (and I liked this comment, it seems to be the most common one I get hahaha) And that does sound weird, though I could partially understand it. Some people like characters acting ooc. And yea, I really liked Drill City as well, how'd you like the reference to it in this chapter? And yea, Mimi is a very good actress… and they were! Yay!_

_xOne N Onlyx: haha thanks! and it has been a while…I really liked Drill City myself. I think the digimon would have a few cities, because after all their world is a mirror of ours. And thanks! I'll try not to have you waiting a long time again!_

_Jmeb0430: Well thank you very much for dropping a review then. I always love hearing from my readers. And I know what you mean about Kari. I've found several of my old childhood views of the digidestined challenged the more I write and research about them, and a big liking of Kari is one of them. Luckily in my story I can write her back to ways I like more, and it's still technically in character. Now onto your list. It won't really be a memorable moment for Sora and Biyomon, sadly I already have the mega digivolutions planned. I do plan on T.k. getting his acknowledgement, and I'll see if I can find something cooler for Joe to do. If you want to see some of those moments you asked about, check out my other big story, Digimon Demon Wars: The Return. It has a memorable warp digivolution for Biyomon and Joe acting as the courageous leader at times. Until next time!_

_Odinson83: ignoring first paragraph…hahaha, Thanks though. I still feel really bad about not getting the update in for so long, but thanks!_

_The other Guy: oh no, not the last one in a while! Thanks! and about the remote…Puppetmon hasn't been controlling this area at all, let alone the years he had for the forest. He's on enemy territory, so he has less tricks up his sleeve. I hope you know me actually writing out my Tier system was partially influence by this review, but don't let that go to your head. And BanchoLeomon is a total beast. Just wait until you watch Data Squad, He is ridiculously awesome. And they lost because they're dumb, only digivolving one or two sector protectors, and then all getting caught at once by Piedmon. Plus Piedmon has Megas of his own. I had to decide which one got injured, and it works better for the story line if Matt was the one. That's how I decided on him, plus then Tai can give him shit about getting hurt. Yep, and as I said before, Mimi is a really good actress. And Drill city…I have some big plans for it, and it'll be completely different from the series, though I still have to decide if BanchoLeomon dies or not…I mean the show says Leomon always have to die…and all three of the new DD armor digimon are of ancient races that are extinct, so yes, their armor forms are extinct as well. And sorry, no delay…_

_TheOmegaMan:…fail, that's all I'm gonna say…hahahaha_

_Crimson G: Thanks! and AWESOME!_

_Lachelle92: No worries! And mission success! Thanks!_


	23. Respite

_Hey everyone, it's Sunday, and I'm updating! A full return to normalcy seems like it's happening! Yay! So not too much to say today, other than this is a relatively action free chapter. You'll get to see a lot more of Drill city, but, as the title says, this is a respite from some of the action of the last groups of chapter._

_Also, thank you all of the mature people (not TaioraWarrior or Lachelle92 =p) for not calling me a moron when you had the open opportunity._

_**Last Timeish**__: The "Safe" group (Matt, T.K., Kari, Mimi, Joe, Yolei, and Cody) was discovered by Puppetmon, and viciously attacked. Matt was injured, and the DD were only saved by the appearance of BanchoLeomon, the new mega form of their old friend Leomon. He drove Puppetmon off, and then led the digidestined to a sanctuary where they could rest for a while, a large underground city called Drill City._

_**Disclaimer:**__ (As a special presentation, I have a random news anchor to present my disclaimer, on a broadcast no less!)_

_Anchor: So the big news today is the fact that Taiora/digimon writer arandomguy227 does….(Interrupted by someone handing him some paper from off screen) Apparently that's not the only big news tonight. It appears that the Toei building in Japan is currently being attack. Our reporter in the field Kent is there live. Kent._

_Kent: It's a mad house down here! There are these large monsters attacking the building, and a bunch of kids cheering the monsters on! The leader of the monsters is a large orange and yellow monster with a shield on his back, and huge claws! He's literally ripping the building apart with those claws! (Kent puts a hand to his ear) Now we're getting a live mic feed that someone managed to slip onto the leader of the attacking kids._

_? : Yea WarGreymon! Wreck that place! This'll teach them to screw with my love life!_

_Kent:...well there you have it, back to you at the station._

_Anchor: Well, that's certainly exciting. I think Toei will think carefully next time before they mess with that kid's love life. Well that's all from us here at news._

_(Ok, that was fun, now on with the story!)_

**Chapter 23 Respite**

_Matt_

The first thing I started to feel was a dull throbbing pain coming from my side. It felt like someone had stuck me there with a knife (don't ask) or something along those lines. I slowly opened my eyes, expecting to be somewhere in the woods. The last thing I remember was Puppetmon attacking me, T.K., MetalGarurumon, and MagnaAngemon, and then everything became a blur, so I figured we were still out in the woods somewhere, maybe in a cave.

My eyes opened up into a room that was definitely not a cave, and certainly not the woods. I was in a relatively well furnished room, softly lit by a couple of lamps. A couple of questions flashed through my mind as I looked around, confused.

_Where am I?_

_Where is everyone else?_

_Is T.K. ok?_

_Did Mimi get hurt?_

_Did…wait, did I just ask if Mimi got hurt?_ I asked myself as I realized the thought that had gone through my head. I shook my head to clear it, but Mimi stayed fresh in my mind almost unbidden.

_What is with this sudden infatuation?_ I thought to myself, but I knew very well where it was coming from. I was actually getting to know Mimi a little bit better than I had before, and I was finding out she was actually a pretty cool person to be around.

I just shook my head once more, glad that neither Tai, Sora, nor Davis were around. If (or rather when I should say) they found out about this they'd never drop it…Tai and Davis would probably try to set something up…

I shuddered at that thought, remembering the time they'd set Izzy up on a date. I never got all the details, but before Tai and Davis's crazy idea for a date was over, Izzy had spent a good portion of the night in the hospital, owned a goat, and the girl he'd been on a date with had sworn never to talk to him again, not to mention the fact that he had hardly been able to show his face at school for nearly two weeks.

_Hey, Tai isn't always that bad. He set me up with __Momoko after all…_ My thoughts screeched to a halt as I thought about that. How could I have forgotten about my girlfriend so quickly? Was I really that shallow that I was separated from Momoko for a few days and I was already forgetting about her?

_Don't be stupid you twit._ Part of me thought to myself after a few seconds. _You never really liked Momoko, and you actually do like Mimi. There's not any big mystery._

I paused as I thought that, and realized it was completely correct. I didn't feel anything for Momoko in the least, certainly nothing like I did around Mimi.

_Well, I guess that settles it. I'll break up with Momoko when we get back._ With that thought I decided that I was through sitting in the bed, and threw the covers off of me. I was wearing some of the clothes that I'd brought along from Gennai's (yet again a slight variation of the clothes I'd first worn to the digital world, just like everything else that seemed to fit me in Gennai's house), and I stood up.

A lance of pain shot out of the dull throbbing pain in my side as I stood up, and I instinctively grabbed my side. I could feel what felt like dressings under my shirt, and that piqued my curiosity. I pulled the shirt over my head to inspect my wound, only realizing after I pulled it up what reaching like that would do to the obvious wound I had on my side.

"YEAOU!" I yelped involuntarily as I was surprised by the self-inflicted pain. I quickly dropped the attempt to pull the shirt off to investigate my wound. As I pressed a hand to my side once more the door to my room burst open, revealing T.K., Joe, and Mimi all standing there.

"Matt!" Joe and T.K. exclaimed as they caught sight of me. The two came right into the room, followed at a more sedate pace by Mimi. Of course, my eyes were locked with Mimi's rather than on Joe and T.K., but they quickly got my attention, as T.K. hugged me.

"You're finally awake!" He exclaimed, and I looked down at him. I wasn't exactly what you'd call the most affectionate brother, neither was he for that matter. In fact usually we hardly even shook hands when we parted, let alone hugged each other, but I returned his hug. From the way he said finally awake, I guess I'd been out for a little while.

T.K. only hugged for a few seconds before backing off. Joe stepped forward, and I braced myself for whatever the future doctor was going to do to me, but he just looked over me.

"Looks like everything's good…" He said, and then looked up at me. "Sorry Matt, just doing a quick check up."

"Check up?" I asked, and he nodded.

"You got cut up pretty bad when Puppetmon attacked you and T.K." Joe said, gesturing to my side. "You're probably going to have to get that bandaged checked and changed a couple of times every day."

"Great." I said, rather bitterly I hated having to be handicapped like that. I felt a hand on my shoulder after I said that, and turned to see Mimi standing next to me.

"It's ok Matt, you're fine now." Mimi said, smiling, and strangely I felt less angry.

_That's odd, Mimi has a calming effect on me?_ I thought to myself as I once again found myself smiling at the brunette.

"Yea, Sorry." I said, directing the apology towards Joe, who just shrugged. "So what's been happening, and where are we?" I asked, still confused on that point, and deciding to move forward rather than sit there stewing over the fact that the termite for brains puppet knocked me out for an unknown period of time.

"Well, where to start?" Joe asked with a nervous laugh, and I looked at him confused. Luckily Mimi and T.K. were a little more up to explaining to me what had happened.

"Well, we managed to beat off Puppetmon." T.K. started to say, and I immediately interrupted him.

"How'd you guys do that? Last thing I remember was MetalGarurumon and MagnaAngemon dedigivolving from Puppetmon's Puppet Pummel." I asked.

"Well, it wasn't really us who beat him…" T.K. said, looking around the room for a minute. Mimi then chimed in.

"Leomon saved us!" She exclaimed, and I turned my attention to her.

"Leomon?"

"Yes, well, kind of." She said, and then proceeded to explain how Leomon was now BanchoLeomon and had saved all of us from Puppetmon after I went down. Joe then skimmed the details of how he and Kari had stopped the little bit of bleeding that I'd had from my injury. (From the look shared between Mimi and T.K. I think Joe might have been not telling me something, but I trusted Joe to tell me everything I needed to know.)

Then Mimi and T.K. told me about the trip inside a mountain and the city we were currently in. I found the fact that we were in the middle of some sort of underground digimon metropolis to be rather unbelievable, until they opened up the blinds to my window, and opened up the view.

I have to say that I was completely stunned. A huge city spread out in all directions from my window, and though none of the buildings were what you could call tall, there were hundreds of them. I was so busy staring at the city itself, which was obviously a stunning sight to see since I'd never really seen a digimon city, I didn't notice the fact that it was in a cavern.

That fact started to permeate my brain as I looked out towards the outskirts of the city, and noticed the rocky ground surrounding the city where I could see. Then my eyes travelled farther out to the cavern walls, stretching high up into the ceiling, farther than I could see from the window.

"Amazing." I breathed after a few minutes. It took me that long to take all of it. Now I'm not some sort of architecture junkie, but I really do love cities. There is something about them that just excites me more than the countryside or small towns ever could, and nothing reminded me of that excitement more than the first time seeing a city.

I think it might have been one of the small contributing factors to my push for my band to be successful. Could you imagine a career where you get to go out and sing to thousands of people, something you love, while at the same time travelling to major and historic cities all over the world? It's the perfect dream job for me. I wouldn't trade the chance for that dream to come true for a trip to the moon, or even Mars.

"You should have seen it from the entrance." T.K., who knew a little of my love of sights like this city, said. "This limited view doesn't show you the half of it."

"Yea, you should see it from the Sanctuary." Joe added, and I looked over at him.

"Sanctuary?" I asked.

"Yea, it's the central building that the entire city was built around." T.K. answered for the older boy. "It's apparently a Sanctuary of some sort of Tablet that's supposed to allow the person who reads it access to great power."

My interest was instantly gained by this Sanctuary, but I forced myself to slow down, for a couple of reasons, first Mimi wasn't really participating in our discussion of the city, which I'm sure was because she was checking out the best shops the city had to offer, and I didn't want her to feel completely left out. Second, it was painfully obvious that everyone had spent a good deal of time in this city, and I wanted to know how long I'd been out. So instead of asking about the Sanctuary again, I asked this.

"So how long exactly was I out?" I asked the three around me, and they all quickly looked away from me. "Oh come on, I just want to know how long I was out. It's not like I was unconscious for a week like Tai."

"You were unconscious for a little over a day." Joe said, and I laughed.

"A day?" I asked after a second. "You guys found all this out in a day?"

"Well..." T.K. said, grinning sheepishly now. "There are a lot of brochures in the lobby of this hotel, and we all sat here with you for a good amount of time…" He trailed off, and I smiled and shook my head.

"So you guys have been all stuck up in here because of me?" I asked, and T.K. shrugged again.

"I wouldn't really call it stuck…" T.K. said, and I cut him off again. I already felt bad enough that everyone had been hanging around this hotel, for the last day all because of me. Now I understood that guilt that Tai had talked about when he was hurt back in December.

"Nope, don't try and say you weren't," I said, smiling still, and I was about to say that we should go check out some of the things they'd looked up in the brochures, but then I suddenly remembered why I was in this area in the first place.

_We're supposed to be getting away from Piedmon, and somewhere safe, not go sightseeing._ I reminded myself, my own person sense of guilt seeping back in. Tai, Sora, Davis, Izzy, and Ken could all be fighting for their lives right now, and I was thinking about sightseeing. Of course, I could look on the bright side, maybe this underground city was both secret and safe from Piedmon, and we could stay here. Sure it wasn't nearly as far as I was planning, after all I'd been planning on an entirely different continent, but if it was safe then it would almost be better than a long overseas journey.

_Well, either way I need to get everyone together so that we can talk about things._ I thought to myself, and opened my mouth to continue speaking. Before I could say anything however the door opened, admitting Gabumon, who took one look to see that I was up on my feet, and he dashed over to me. Every thought of a meeting was momentarily driven from my mind as I dropped to a knee to hug Gabumon.

"Matt! You're awake!" He exclaimed and I smiled at him.

"Yep." I replied as I let go of my partner and stood up.

"Good. I was worried about you." Gabumon said, and I felt another pang. I hated making Gabumon worry as much as anyone. "But it's all better now, so it's ok." Gabumon knew very well how I would feel, and was trying to head it off. I decided to play along for now.

"Yep," I started to say with a smile, "Now, I think we need to get everyone together for a meeting so we can discuss…"I was cut off midsentence by a loud growling, coming from my stomach.

"Oh my…" Mimi said, looking over at me, and I felt heat rise to my cheeks. I'd never been quite the food devourer that Tai was, but I had never really been ashamed of the times I was hungry, until right now. "You must be starving Matt! Before we do anything else, we need to get you some food."

Mimi grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the door. I decided not to try to resist, after all, it would get me food, and I was pulled out the door. Gomamon, Patamon and Palmon were waiting outside the door, and they greeted me and their partners before joining us on our food expedition. I had expected the others to be waiting outside in the building somewhere, but they were nowhere to be seen as we walked down a couple of flights of stairs.

"Where are the others?" I asked curious that my assumption had been wrong.

"They're out in the city somewhere." Joe replied.

"We've been taking it in shifts to wait in here with you." T.K. added.

"Oh good." I said, getting looks from T.K and Joe. "What? I didn't want everyone waiting around just because of me."

"How nice of you Matt." Mimi said, smiling at me, and I smiled back. We exited the building, and I noticed the two hulking Knightmon that were standing on either side of the doorway. T.K. must have noticed them looking at me, because he explained what they were for.

"They're to keep most of the digimon in the city out." T.K. said, and I arched an eyebrow at this. "We're somewhat celebrities, as the digidestined, here, and quite a few digimon wanted to see us from the moment we showed up."

I nodded, looking over the two imposing looking Ultimate level digimon. They certainly would have kept me away from anyone famous, that's for sure.

We took a couple of seconds to orient ourselves, and then Mimi took off down one of the streets. I followed closely, and didn't really notice as T.K. and Joe opened up a little distance between the two of us.

"So, where are we going?" I asked, Mimi who glanced back and smiled.

"It's a mixed cuisine restaurant not too far from here." Mimi replied, and then seemed to catch sight of the restaurant in question. "There it is!" Mimi exclaimed, grabbing my arm and dragging me down the street. "It's got the best food you'll ever try, at least that's what T.K. said."

"You haven't checked it out yourself?" I asked, looking at the brown haired girl surprised. I had figured that she had checked out a few of the restaurants around here in addition to the shops I was sure she would have checked.

"Uh…well…i…uh…haven't had time." Mimi stammered out, earning a laugh from Gomamon.

"She means she didn't leave your room longer for than was necessary for a trip to a bathroom the entire time you were out." Gomamon, who had stayed up with us, said, just before Palmon wrapped him up in her vines, and lifted him towards Joe and T.K..

"What?" I asked, looking over the furiously blushing Mimi. This was pretty surprising to say the least. She'd been waiting with me the entire time?

To say I was a little excited about this would have been a pretty big understatement. I mean I was steadily figuring out that I had feeling for Mimi (you know, I liked her) and now I found out that she spent most of the last day at my bed side, when no one else had. My heartbeat was at least a little elevated as I looked over at her.

She was still blushing furiously, and looked down as she mumbled a response.

"I…uh…wanted to make sure you were ok." Mimi said, and my face split into a grin again. This was contagious, all this smiling. I think I finally understood how Tai could look so happy all the time around Sora.

I wanted to put her at ease though, because she looked really uncomfortable, so I reached out and touched her arm, uncertain as to what to do.

I'm sure Tai would have had a good laugh at that. The Famous Matt Ishida, as he would say, suddenly unsure about what to do with a girl. I needed to make sure he never found out about these moments.

"Thanks Mimi." I said, uncertainly at first, but I started to figure out what to say, in my head. "It really means a lot to me that you stayed the whole time." I finished with a smile, and I was rewarded with the most beautiful smile I'd ever seen.

The two of us walked into the restaurant and to one of the tables in the restaurant, Gabumon and Palmon in tow. I didn't really notice until after the fact, but T.K and Joe never joined us, leaving the four of us on our own.

~10101010~

I managed to spend most of that day with Mimi, and only remembered when we separated to our rooms at the end of it that I hadn't met with the other digidestined to figure out what we were going to do next. I decided that the next morning all of us would meet before running out into Drill City, and decide what we were going to do, whether it was stay here, or continue our travels, wherever they led.

Of course, I didn't quite get to sleep easily. T.K., Joe, and (once he was filled in) Cody wanted to know how my day with Mimi had been, and I told them the truth. It had been nice, but nothing had happened, despite what Gomamon tried to tell everyone he'd seen when no one else was around.

I didn't tell them about the serious talk that the two of us had when we got a little of alone (without partners) time. Let's just say that something almost happened, and we both stopped before we did something we'd regret later.

We'd pretty much agreed that we were going to wait to do or be anything else until after we got back to the real world. Not only was in the middle of a war a really bad time to start going out, I still had a girlfriend back home, and I would at least break up with her before starting anything with Mimi. I owed Momoko, Mimi, and myself that much.

Of course, that's not to say I was really happy about our forced stop, I am a straight guy after all, but I think I'd be happier in the long run (however long that was) this way.

Anyways, I told the guys after they stopped harassing me that we were having a group meeting in the morning. I told the girls the same thing before heading back to turn in myself.

That morning I was rather surprised to find a pair of small digimon in the lobby. They looked some sort of chess pieces, one of them was white, and the other was black. Gabumon was with me, and filled me in on the two digimon.

"Those are PawnChessmon. They're puppet digimon that were made from a supercomputer's game of chess." Gabumon told me as the two PawnChessmon headed for us. "They're small and individually weak, but usually serve a higher power and are useful in numbers."

The White PawnChessmon stepped forward after they stopped in front of us, and handed me a slip of paper. They then stood there waiting, prompting me to think that they were waiting for some sort of response from me.

I opened up the parchment, and had to say I was impressed. The fanciest writing I had ever seen was there, and from what I could piece together through said fancy letters, the ruler of Drill City, a digimon called Grademon, wanted to see me.

"So you two are supposed to take us to Grademon?" I asked, and the Black PawnChessmon nodded. I looked down at Gabumon, who looked up at me. "Well, I guess we should probably go with them Gabumon."

"What about the others?" Gabumon asked, and I looked over my shoulder. None of the others had come down yet, so if I went with the PawnChessmon they would have no idea what happened to me. Maybe I could run up to tell them real quick.

Luckily for me Kari came down the stairs, with Hawkmon following her. I was a little confused by Hawkmon being with Kari and not Gatomon, but I let her know where I was going before finally following the two PawnChessmon. (A/N).

They led the way through the streets of Drill City, still mostly empty as it was not even mid-morning for the city yet. A few vendors and stores were open, but most were still closed down. (One thing digimon and most teenagers have in common is a love of sleeping in. In a digimon run city most places didn't open before 10, simply because no one would be up to use them.)

I quickly lost sight of any familiar areas as the two PawnChessmon led me and Gabumon towards the center of the city. Drill City was arranged on a hill of sorts. At the very center of the city a large rock formation stretched up towards the ceiling of the cavern, illuminated by dozens of lights on and around it. This formation, I had learned yesterday, was the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary was the highest point of the cavern, as well as the dead center of it, and Drill City stretched out around it, since the City had been founded thanks to the location of the Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary was also the location from where Grademon ruled Drill City. I didn't really know much about how the ruling was done, I really didn't like politics enough to do a bit of digging to find out. For all I knew Grademon could be a dictator, a monarch (if digimon had them) or an elected mayor. All I needed to know right now was the fact that he was the guy in charge.

The PawnChessmon led me and Gabumon right to the main entrance of the Sanctuary, and through the pair of Knightmon standing guard at the door. Inside was the main atrium of the sanctuary, and I felt my eyes wander as I looked around the room. A large mural instantly grabbed my attention, and I felt myself stop where I was as I looked at the mural.

There were a few remarkable things about the mural, but the thing that kept my eyes were the drawings of a human, and not just any human. The distance I was from the mural couldn't hide the fact that the person had big hair and goggles, just like Tai did. I started moving towards the mural almost unconsciously, but Gabumon grabbed my arm.

"Matt, they didn't stop!" He exclaimed, and I looked to see what he meant. The two PawnChessmon had kept moving even after I stopped and they were almost out of sight.

"Damn." I said quickly jogging over to the two PawnChessmon so I didn't lose them. Angering the ruler of the city probably wasn't worth whatever that mural was about, plus I could always come back later.

Next the two PawnChessmon led us through a series of passages, until we reached a pair of large wooden doors. The White PawnChessmon knocked on the door and a gruff "enter" sounded from within.

The doors opened and Gabumon and I strode forward. Two digimon were standing at the opposite side of the room on a balcony that looked over the city. One had to be BanchoLeomon, as he looked like a slight variance of the Leomon that I was used to seeing, though the jacket he wore made him look quite different. The other digimon therefore must have been Grademon.

He was completely covered in golden armor, and had a fairly reptilian head on top of his mostly humanoid body. Large spikes rose from his back framing his head, and behind him flowed a large blue cape. I could barely make out the shape of two identical swords on his hips.

We walked up to the two digimon, both of whom turned towards us. BanchoLeomon greeted me first, stepping forward.

"Greeting Matt, how are your injuries healing?" He asked, and I was a little surprised. I don't really remember any one on one situations with Leomon, and it was weird hearing him use my first name. I answered fairly quickly though.

"Good. I've got most of my movement right now." I replied. "I just need to take it easy for a week or so and I should be good. Thank you again for saving all of us from Puppetmon." I added the last bit much more awkwardly, uncertain how to fit that in there. BanchoLeomon simply nodded his head and stepped back.

Grademon stepped forward next, looking me over, and I responded in kind. I didn't really know what to think or do with the digimon. We'd never met a digimon that ruled others, unless they were our enemies, and we only had one way of dealing with them.

"It is good that you are well digidestined." Grademon said, and I listened to him. The way he said digidestined seemed to me like it was somewhat respectful, so I considered that a good thing. "I had talked to the other golden hair member of your group."

"My brother T.K." I replied, and Grademon nodded.

"We discussed how long all of you would like to stay here in Drill City." Grademon continued, and I felt an up swelling of pride. T.K. had always kept off to the side in the leadership of the digidestined, and it was good to hear that he had stepped up to a leadership position when he needed to. "I told him that all of you could stay here as long as you needed."

"Thank you." I said, and Grademon inclined his head, and then continued in his gruff voice.

"Unfortunately the situation has changed since yesterday." Grademon said, and my eyes narrowed. Were we getting thrown out just because I'd come to?

I decided that accusations would probably do more harm than good at this point, so I just came out and asked.

"What changed?"

"Yesterday you had the option of leaving, today you do not." Grademon said, and then pointed across the cavern. I looked out over Drill City to the distant wall, where I could just make out hundreds of shapes milling about.

"What is that?" I asked, and BanchoLeomon answered for me.

"That is an Army, come to destroy this city." BanchoLeomon said, "It is led by Puppetmon."

I looked out at the army again, and I knew that we were trapped. We might be able to blast a path out if there were only a few dozen of them, but there easily could have been a thousand digimon in the distance. Whether I liked it or not, the "safe" group was now trapped here in Drill City, about to be in the middle of a war.

_Well, we can say, crap, good luck holding them off_. I thought to myself as I looked out. _Or we could do what digidestined should be doing, not running away, but helping._

I looked back over to Grademon and BanchoLeomon who were both watching me, and I smiled.

"How can we help?"

~10101010101010~

_Well, another cliffhanger…you guys aregoing to kill me aren't you? I hope you guys like the disclaimer, because I certainly did. Anyways,until next week!_

_(A/N) here, I was trying to show that Gatomon wasn't an early riser, and neither was Yolei, so they were both still asleep. Kari and Hawkmon however were early risers, and went to the lobby. That's why their together._

_**Next Time:**_

_Chaosdramon fired another volley from his Hyper Infinity Cannon, and Magnamon avoided the attack once again._

"_What's the point of all your power if you can't even hit me?" Magnamon taunted, and I decided to join in._

"_Yea, all you're powers useless if you can't hit the broadside of a barn!" I shouted, and Chaosdramon turned towards me…_

"_Uh oh…" Ken said, and I gulped._

_**Review Replies:**_

_Matani: I know exactly what you mean. The impreciseness of digimon power levels really frustrated me, which is why I came up with the tier system. It's not perfect, but fills in some of the gaps pretty logically I think. (Though nothing will really ever explain Zero…he was just a total beast). And thank you so much. That's the biggest compliment you could give me._

_Lachelle92: Thank you so much, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for someone to call me a moron =p lol. And enjoy more cliffhangers! =p _

_TaioraWarrior: Well, I'm glad I'm keeping you on your toes…it's certainly fun for me! Lol. And yea, I thought that was both a perfect Tai and Sora moment, but also a great Tai and Agumon moment. I really liked how it came out. And go for it…though it'll be difficult with those two…they seem just a little estranged lol. Thanks! You'll see much more of him next time. And don't worry. You were the first to get the Dark Masters return down on paper (or er MS word lol), we're the refiners right now. We saw what you dud and we can change it (whether for better or worse) after already knowing how your approach went._

_Supershooter: No worries! And only two right now, so not far at all…I fell behind myself recently. And yea, was really making everyone's lives difficult these last few weeks. I'm glad you liked both of them, and hopefully when you catch up you'll like the additions._

_xOne N Onlyx: na…just spent too much time thinking about what they would do with free time. And yea, they had to catch a lucky break some time, even if Tai wouldn't have called it lucky lol. And don't worry, I'll never quit until the stories over. Even if I somehow come to hate digimon/writing (which is impossible) I'll still tough it out and finish, simply because I to hate unfinished stories._

_Jmeb0430:Thanks! I've always like authors who take the time to rely to reviews more as well, so I modeled myself that way when I started posting. That was among my favorite lines in this story so far. Good Tai Agumon moments like that are my favorite. Thanks a bunch. All of those are the highest compliments that I feel I can get (especially the replacing the seasons!) Thanks a bunch! And, the sparring was actually kinda motivated by Medabots. I re-watched that entire show the three days before I wrote that chapter, and kinda thought about digidestined taking each other on with their partners, and then I got to sparring. That's where that came from if you were wondering._

_Odinson83: Hmmm, if I hadn't just destroyed the Toei building…I mean if Tai hadn't, then I would recommend digimon Trainers as their new season lol. Dang it typo…and thanks! Hopefully this chapter didn't kill all the momentum, I know it was slower than normal. Thanks!_

_TheOmegaMan:Nope…and win for extorting a review out of you! and yea, that's decent I guess…but aim for higher! lol_


	24. The Dragon of Chaos

_Hey folks, happy Easter! As a special treat, you get an update! Yay! Feel special! Also, there is a new poll on my profile, and I'd appreciate it if some of you would stop by and vote on it. I'd really like to know what everyone thinks about the question. Also I'm trying out a slightly new format for this chapter. It's still first person like normal, but things are slightly different from how I've been approaching the chapters. I'd really appreciate some feedback on whether you like this way more, or how I used to do thing. Thanks, now on with the story and stuff!_

_**Last Timeish:**__ Tai's group was stuck in a sort of limbo. They didn't know where to search for the next tablet, and they couldn't go anywhere for fear of Piedmon. Davis and Tai spent the time having their partners spar, while Izzy and Ken searched for the next tablet. Tai accidentally discovered how to find the next tablet, and the gang set off to find it. When they arrived they found Chaosdramon, the powered up form of Machinedramon, waiting for them, and he blasted them, leaving their fate unknown._

_**Disclaimer**__: (This is a special disclaimer announcement, given by an anonymous Toei spokesperson.)  
Due to technical difficulties (being locked in a prison cell) resulting from the attack upon the Toei building by certain members of the digidestined (all of them), and a certain FF author who encouraged them, this disclaimer is being issued by Toei for the author. Arandomguy227 does not own digimon. Thank you._

**Chapter 24 The Dragon of Chaos**

_Davis_

"Davis? Davis!" A voice broke into my thoughts as I slowly started to regain consciousness. "Davis talk to me!" The fogginess that seemed to be covering my brain slowly washed away and I opened my eyes to see Veemon looking down at me.

"DAVIS!" He exclaimed, and I could tell that he had been the one calling out to me before.

"I'm here Veemon." I replied as I slowly sat up. "That could have gone better." Veemon shook his head as I said that.

I tried to remember what had happened last. We'd been travelling to another one of the temples, to find another tablet so we could defeat Piedmon. There'd been digimon attacking us as we flew in, I remembered that.

_Did they shoot us down?_ I wondered to myself as I started looking around. _No, Tai stopped them…it was something else_.

I tried to remember what had happened to me, as I looked around and observed a devastated landscape around me. The canyon we were in was already pretty messed up, mostly from digital weather I'm sure, but something had literally ripped a giant crater in the middle of the canyon.

"Dang," I said looking at the crater, then everything came back to me. A giant red digimon, with massive cannons on its back had done this, trying to destroy us. "This took a lot of power to do."

"Chaosdramon is one of the most powerful digimon in the whole digital world Davis." Veemon said matter of factly as we stood there looking at the crater. "What do you think happened to the others?"

"I don't know." I replied, looking around. I couldn't see anything but rocks and damage from Chaosdramon's attack. "We should start looking for them."

"That could take forever Davis!" Veemon exclaimed, and I looked down at him.

"What? You got something better to do besides look for our friends?" I asked, a little worried. Veemon wasn't one to avoid trying to help our friends.

"But what about when we need to eat?" Veemon asked, seconds later his stomach let out a loud growl, and I suddenly understood. The only thing as important to his friends for Veemon was his stomach.

"Ah I see," I said, looking at my partner through narrowed eyes. "You just want some food."

"Well, how else am I going to digivolve to fight Chaosdramon?" Veemon asked, and my teasing stopped in their tracks. He had a very good point.

"DAVIS!" A voice shouted out, and I spun around to look for the source of the voice, which sounded remarkably like Ken's. "Up here Davis!" I looked up to see Stingmon descending down towards us, Ken in his hands. Ken looked pretty beat up. His clothes were torn in places, and he seemed a little bruised and scorched up. I'm sure I looked about the same though.

"Ken!" I called out, jogging forward.

Stingmon landed, and lowered his hand so that Ken could walk forward.

"You ok Davis?" He asked and I smiled at him.

"It'll take more than some creepy red robot to keep me down!" I exclaimed, with Veemon chipping in a yea, and then I had a thought. "Hey Ken, you have the food right?"

When we'd left, Tai, Sora, and Izzy had been insistent that we bring some supplies with us, mostly food and some medical stuff. I hadn't really understood at the time, I mean, we weren't going to be gone for that long, but they were insistent, so we'd all brought some stuff. I had some of the medical supplies, while Ken had some food.

"Yea, I've still got most of it." Ken replied, and seemed to know what I was really asking as he swung his backpack around. "Here you go Veemon."

Veemon started to dig into the food from the pack, and I finally figured out why they must have insisted on bringing the food. They must have known that the digimon were going to need it (how, I don't know).

"How'd you find us so fast?" I asked as Veemon threw some of the food up to Stingmon.

"The digivices." Ken replied, holding up his black digivice. "There's still one more signal in range of my digivice."

I really wanted to hit myself then. Of course our digivices would allow us to find each other. I should have thought of that first. I pulled out my own D3, looking at the screen as it showed three dots. Two were next to each other, me and Ken, and the other was a little ways away from us, away from the crater.

"Ok, well we know where to go next, but where are the others?" I asked, half talking to myself, half asking Ken.

Ken just shrugged, and I could tell he didn't really want to talk about it. We both knew exactly what could have happened to whoever wasn't the third digivice, after all being at the center of an attack like that, it was a Miracle that we were alive at all, let alone relatively unhurt.

"Ok, we won't figure it out here." I said, pulling out my digivice and turning towards Veemon, who had about fifteen candy bars stuck in his mouth. "Veemon!" I exclaimed, exasperated at my partner.

"Mmmuphmmm?" He asked, sending bits of the candy bars out of his mouth. I just stared at him until he finished his food. "Yea Davis?" He finally asked after several minutes.

"Let's get going" I said, pulling out my digivice. He nodded, and I pointed my digivice at him. "Digi-Armor Energize!"

"Veemon Armor digivolve to! Raidramon! The Storm of Friendship!" Raidramon landed next to Stingmon, who lowered his hand once again so Ken could climb on. I climbed onto Raidramon's back, hoping that all the food he just ate wouldn't come back up as we were heading toward our friend. "Which way Davis?"

"That way!" I said, gesturing towards the signal. Raidramon nodded, and then took off at a run, Stingmon flying just above us.

_Izzy_

I glanced at my digivice once more, observing the blinking dot that signaled the location of another digidestined. Tentomon was flying just over my shoulder, keeping a lookout for anything that could be dangerous for us.

I spared another glance at my digivice, and then looked up, as I should be coming up on the signal now. I looked around me and there was nothing here. I was at the edge of the large crater made by Chaosdramon's attack, and there was nothing here.

"That's odd." I said aloud, prompting Tentomon to ask.

"What's odd Izzy?" He asked and I gestured around us.

"The signal is coming from right here, but nothing's here." I replied, and Tentomon looked around as well.

"IZZY!" A voice suddenly shouted, and I looked around for its source. There was nowhere it could have come from that I could see, yet it sounded just like Tai had called out my name.

"Tai?" I asked, and that got me another shout.

"No, it's your great aunt Mildred! Of course it's me!" The voice shouted back, and I sighed. Yea, it was definitely Tai.

"Well, where are you?" I asked, not feeling like wasting time at the moment.

"Well, you see that's the thing." Tai replied, still calling out. "Look over the cliff." I shook my head and walked over to the edge of the cliff, and looked down.

I was rather surprised to see Tai hanging a little ways down the side of the cliff, holding onto Agumon who was unconscious.

"Hey Izzy." Tai said, his face strained. I had no idea how long he'd been hanging there, but probably for a good amount of time. "Mind helping me out a bit here?"

"Tentomon!" I called out, and my partner flew over to see what I needed.

"Tai! Agumon! What are you doing hanging there?" He asked, looking down at the two.

"I'd love to tell you Tentomon, but right now I'd really like you to help get us off this cliff!" Tai replied, and Tentomon was only slightly taken aback.

"There's no need to shout." He said, flying down, where Tai handed him Agumon. A few seconds later and both Tai and Agumon were sitting once more on solid ground, a little ways away from the cliff.

"How'd you get there in the first place?" I asked Tai once we'd sat down for a minute.

"Well, after Chaosdramon blasted us, I woke up over there," Tai gestured towards the cliff, "And as I sat up the ground just fell out from under me. I was lucky to grab Agumon and the side of the cliff."

I nodded as Tai said this. We'd all come so close to death in the past, especially over these last few weeks, that hearing about that wasn't really as shocking as it once was.

"Why didn't you just wake Agumon up?" Tentomon asked, looking at the still sleeping Agumon.

"I tried, but you two know how Agumon is when he sleeps." Tai said with a laugh, rubbing the back of his head. "The only thing that'll wake him up is food."

"Did someone say food?" Agumon asked suddenly, sitting up as he did so.

I looked at Agumon, along with Tai and Tentomon before letting out a laugh. Tai just face palmed, while Tentomon looked between the two of us.

"What's the matter?" Agumon asked, looking at all of us.

"Oh nothing Agumon." Tai sighed, pulling a few protein bars out of his backpack. "Here's some food for you."

Agumon's eyes went huge when Tai tossed him the food, but he didn't complain one bit. I looked over to Tai, who just shrugged.

"You have any luck locating the others?" He asked after a few seconds of silence.

"No, your digivice was the only one mine picked up." I replied, and the fears I'd had when I first saw that came back. "What if Chaosdramon got the othe…?"

"Don't even think that Izzy," Tai said, cutting me off. "The others are fine. They've got to be over there somewhere." Tai pointed out towards the far side of Chaosdramon's crater.

"How can you be so sure?" I asked, unable to believe Tai's optimism. Being realistic, all of us should be dead. An attack that had caused the massive crater before us should have killed all of us, yet here we were, somehow still alive. Of course, that didn't mean that the others had the same luck as we did.

"Because Izzy, they have to be ok." Tai replied, and I could hear the conviction in his voice. "And, I would know if something had happened to Sora."

With that statement he stood up, and looked around us.

"But Tai, look at this realistically. Chaosdramon's attack should have killed all of us, and just because we're ok, doesn't mean the others are to." I didn't really know what was coming over me as I said this. I wanted to believe that the others were ok, as much as Tai did, but the rational part of my brain couldn't let me do that.

"Izzy, they're ok, just trust me on this one, ok?" Tai asked, and I could see a hard glint in his eyes, and I knew I wouldn't enjoy what would happen if I didn't agree with him, so I nodded. Tai wasn't usually one to intimidate people, but he obviously felt strongly enough about this to intimidate me like that. "Now, where did that giant robotic monstrosity run off to? It's not like him to leave anyone still breathing if he can help it."

I looked around as well, as I hadn't really thought about it in my rush to get to Tai.

"I don't know. Maybe he got hit with some backlash from his attack?" I said, and then noticed something I hadn't seen before. We weren't that far from the Temple that contained the Tablet, meaning that we could get there and grab the tablet quickly. "Look Tai, it's the temple." I pointed, and Tai's eyes followed my arm.

Tai looked at it, and then back at me.

"It would be a good idea to go get the Tablet," I said gesturing towards the Temple.

"Then we can go find Sora, Davis, and Ken." Tai added, and I nodded. We got Agumon and Tentomon, and then headed right for the Temple.

_Davis_

Raidramon raced across the ground, heading right for the signal on my digivice. Stingmon was right behind us as we ran forward, keeping up easily from the air. I had most of my attention focused on my digivice, because I really didn't want to take a wrong turn out here in the canyon and have Ken get mad at me or something. Because of that, I pretty much missed what we were running right into.

"DAVIS!" Raidramon called my name, drawing my attention away from my digivice. I looked up ahead, and had to swallow as I saw the giant shape of Chaosdramon right in our path, though he was facing away from us.

Raidramon slowed to a stop as we all noticed this, and Stingmon landed next to us.

"Ok, I think it's time to get out of here." Raidramon said, sparing another glance at Chaosdramon, and I had to agree with my partner. It's not that we were afraid of a fight, but I'd learned, from Tai mostly, that rushing into a fight against an opponent that was stronger than you when you didn't have to wasn't always the best choice. If we'd had Tai with us, I'd say take on that stupid red walking scrap heap, but we didn't and the one thing that the original digidestined had emphasized is the fact that Machinedramon was only vulnerable to WarGreymon's Dramon Destroyers.

Ken nodded, probably thinking pretty much the same thing as me, but then we heard noises coming from where Chaosdramon was.

"Wing Blade!"

We all turned to look towards Chaosdramon, only to see Garudamon, Biyomon's Ultimate form, attacking him.

"Uh oh…" I said, obviously realizing that we weren't going to get out of this battle. "Sora."

I glanced back at Ken who nodded, then over at Raidramon, who glowed as he dedigivolved into Veemon.

"Ok, so the avoiding battle plan is out the window." Veemon said, looking towards Chaosdramon. "Looks like we'll just have to kick his butt instead."

I nodded, a grin on my face now. As much as I knew I needed to be smart when battling these Dark Masters, Tai, Izzy, and Sora had told us that so much even I got it, I really didn't like running away from a fight.

"Golden-Armor Energize!"

"Veemon Golden Armor digivolve to! Magnamon!" Magnamon replaced Veemon, glowing with energy as he finished digivolving.

"Your turn Stingmon." Ken said, looking over to his partner as his Crest started to glow.

"Stingmon digivolve to! JewelBeemon!" JewelBeemon landed next to Magnamon, and the two looked at each other and nodded, just as Ken and I did. The four of us took off, heading right for Chaosdramon and Garudamon. Magnamon and JewelBeemon obviously got there much faster, courtesy of their ability to fly.

The two hit Chaosdramon before he knew what was going on, and actually managed to send the massive digimon crashing into the ground. Ken and I rushed up as this happened, almost running right into Sora, who was standing a little ways away from the battle.

"Sora!" I shouted, getting her attention. The red head turned towards us, and waved.

"Davis! Ken!" she shouted towards us, and we ran right over to her. Now I needed to get her out of the battle area. As scary as Chaosdramon was he was nowhere near as frightful as Tai would be if something happened to Sora while she was with me. I didn't even want to imagine how many times Tai would kill me and somehow bring me back to life before finally letting me die.

"Good timing! I wasn't sure how much longer Garudamon could hold him off." Sora said, continuing to talk. Ken and I both dropped our backpacks as we got to Sora. As useful as the things were, they were still a pain to carry around.

"Well, Magnamon and JewelBeemon will take care of him for now. You should go back and find some cover until the battle is over." I said, hoping she wouldn't be mad that I was trying to get her out of harm's way. I really should have known better.

"Get out of harm's way?" Sora asked, and at first I didn't think she was that angry. "Why you little…" She got me in a headlock before I knew what was going on. "I'll have you know that I'm perfectly capable of staying here and not going and hiding some place Davis!" I looked over at Ken who just shrugged and turned away. Before I could reply Sora proceeded to give me a rather painful noogie.

"AHHH! OK OK!" I shout, and Sora finally lets me out of the headlock. Sora gave me a slight glare and then turned back to the battle. I didn't know why she was so defensive about the whole thing, I was only trying to look out for her.

"I don't need anyone to look out for me Davis, I'm perfectly capable of doing that on my own." Sora said, as she looked over at the battle. I sensed there was something that I was missing, but the sounds of battle distracted me before I could bring it up with Sora.

"Magna Blast!" I looked up to see Magnamon hit Chaosdramon with a full blast. Of course, Chaosdramon was so big barely a portion of him was hit by the attack, and his armor shrugged most of it off.

Chaosdramon just cocked his head at Magnamon.

"You're attack was ineffectual, prepare to be eliminated!" The twin cannons on his back swung forward. "Hyper Infinity Cannon!"

_Izzy_

I studied the Mural in the main chamber of the Temple once more as Tai continued to look around the room for anything. We'd gotten to the Temple with almost no trouble at all, but almost as soon as we'd gotten here things had gone much less right.

This Temple only seemed to have one main chamber that was incredibly easy to access, with the door at ground level and nothing guarding it. We'd been able to search the entire room in a few bare seconds, and then we'd ended up back in the middle of it, no closer to the tablet than we were before.

This temple also contained a Mural, very similar to the one we'd found in the first temple, only this one was a completely different part of the story. Tai had ignored it after a few seconds looking at it, but I couldn't help but be drawn to it. It had the same Tai character, but this time his partner had wings. There was also a creature that vaguely looked like a Gabumon with them this time, and I looked for a Matt like picture, but I still hadn't found one.

From what I could figure out about the story, we had missed a rather large chunk of it. I could tell that this mural picked up where another one stopped, but I hadn't seen that one. That led me to believe that this was the last of the three temples, meaning that we'd skipped over the other one.

Hopefully the information we needed to find the second tablet would be contained within the first tablet, especially since it seemed like we were missing something we needed to find this tablet.

I continued looking over the mural, until I finally came to the end. This had been one part I was especially intrigued about, since it might give us a clue as to what we were looking for. I got more than I bargained for.

Several digimon I didn't recognize, except for an Omnimon, we present at a battle. The "good guys" were down at first, but then one of the digimon digivolved, and it seemed like they won. Then their opponent seemed to be reborn as a different monster that made quick work of all the "good guys"

_Hmm, this seems rather familiar. Now the"good guys" are going to find some prophecy or something at the last second to save them_. I thought with a smile, remembering exactly how many times that had happened to us, and it turned out I was correct. The next picture showed Tai picking up some sort of shiny rock, then pointing it at his partner, who proceeded to digivolve, and win the battle.

_That must be the Digimental. _I thought to myself looking at the rock. I kept looking at it, and I almost didn't notice the other people in the mural. I glanced to the side and almost had to do a double take.

_No way, that looks just like Sora…_ I thought to myself, looking at the picture that had a good resemblance to my friend, though she wasn't wearing one of her prized hats.

"Hey! Tai!" I called out to my big haired friend.

"Yea Izzy?" Tai called out, and then ran over to me. "Did you find something?"

"Yea, look at this girl here in the mural, doesn't she remind you of someone?" I asked him, pointing at the Sora in the mural.

Tai looked at the figure for a good while. I was quite shocked at his reaction. For some reason he didn't seem to be making the instant connection that I had, even though he knew Sora several magnitudes better than I did.

"Tai?" I asked, shaking his arm. "Tai?" Tai finally seemed to come out of the daze, looking away from the Sora look alike.

"I'm sorry Izzy, what were we talking about?" He asked, looking over at me, and I was concerned. Sure Tai could be forgetful sometimes, but that was mostly about things like algebra formulas or dates from history, not what we had been talking about seconds before.

"Are you feeling ok Tai?" I asked, suddenly concerned. If this mural had some sort of connection to Tai, and I'd somehow activated some sort of mental trigger that was affecting Tai we could be in deep trouble. Tai was not only partnered with our most powerful digimon, but he was our leader. If he got knocked out of commission, then we'd be in trouble. Not to mention the fact that Sora would kill me.

Tai looked at me for a second, and then nodded.

"Yea, I'm fine Izzy just looking at this mural…" Tai said, trailing off as his eyes latched onto the image of the Digimental, and he stretched out his hand. The second his hand made contact with the picture the picture let out a beam of light and the mural seemed to open up before us.

I watched, shocked for a second as the opening turned into a shelf of sorts, with another tablet sitting in the middle of it.

"Prodigious…" I breathed as I watched this happen. Tai reached out and picked the tablet up as well.

_This must have been a defense mechanism for this tablet. The only way to get to it was to activate the mural, which no one would have thought to do. How did Tai know this?_ I thought to myself as Tai made a small noise and sagged down to the ground.

"Tai!" Agumon exclaimed, jumping forward to catch his partner.

I looked at Tai concerned as he opened his eyes and looked around.

"Izzy, what's going on?" He asked, looking at me. "What happened?"

"I don't really know Tai, but I think it'd be a good idea for you to stay away from these murals from now on." I said holding out a hand to my friend.

Tai looked at me a little confused, so I just added, "Trust me on this one Tai."

Tai just shrugged, and then there was a bright light from outside the temple. Tai was immediately on his feet, and the two of us rushed to the entrance. We could see a massive detonation in the distance.

"I'll give you two guesses as to what that was." I said, sure that Chaosdramon had caused that explosion.

"I only need one." Tai replied, pulling out his digivice and Crest.

_Davis_

Magnamon quickly dodged to the left as Chaosdramon aimed his cannon at him and fired. The hillside behind Magnamon exploded, sending chunks of it flying everywhere, but nothing else was damaged.

"You shall be destroyed by my power!" Chaosdramon shouted once more, firing another volley from his Hyper Infinity Cannon, which Magnamon avoided with ease once again.

"What's the point of all your power if you can't even hit me?" Magnamon taunted, and I decided, rather foolishly in hindsight, to join in.

"Yea, all your power is useless if you can't hit the broadside of a barn!" I shouted gleefully, and Chaosdramon turned towards me.

"Uh oh…" Ken said, and I gulped.

"We shall see who is a barn with this attack!" Chaosdramon shouted, powering up his cannons again. "Hyper Infinity Cannon!"

He fired right at the three of us, and I waited to be destroyed. Something hard hit me as I shut my eyes, and suddenly I felt the wind flying past me, and then I was on solid ground again.

I opened my eyes to see that Magnamon had grabbed me and Sora, while JewelBeemon had grabbed Ken.

"I'd recommend not doing that again." Magnamon said, looking right at me before jumping back out towards Chaosdramon. I paused for a minute, then turned towards Sora and Ken, both of whom were looking right at me. I turned back around and finally noticed the big crater where we'd been standing, and where our supplies had been.

"Well, that could have…" I started to say, only to be hit in the back of my head, twice.

"Don't even say it Davis." Sora said, and I sighed. Why was I always friends with the abusive ones?

I decided to focus on the battle as everything else didn't really seem to be working out with me, and I turned just in time to see JewelBeemon get hammered by Chaosdramon's drill arm, and revert back to Wormmon.

"Wormmon!" Ken called out, just before starting to move forward. This time I grabbed his arm as he tried to run out there.

"Don't Ken. Chaosdramon will just target you then." I said, finally sobering up from earlier.

"Garudamon can grab him," Sora said suddenly, calling out to her partner. "Garudamon, grab Wormmon!"

The giant bird man like digimon dove down and grabbed the unconscious Wormmon, though it was hardly unnoticed.

"Destroyed Hook!" Chaosdramon shouted and launched a missile from its right arm, right at Garudamon. Garudamon made it most of the way to us before the missile hit, but then collapsed into the ground, dedigivolving into Yokomon as it did.

"Yokomon!" Sora cried out, and this time she and Ken dashed forward.

"Damn it." I said as the two of them dashed forward. I knew I would do the same thing if it happened to Magnamon, but still, they were running right into danger.

_Oh well, might as well go for broke._ I thought, dashing after the others. If we could stay together Magnamon might be able to protect us if Chaosdramon decided to attack us. I glanced up as I ran towards the two digimon. It seemed like that wouldn't be necessary as Magnamon had him fully occupied.

"Magna Blast!" Magnamon let out another blast of energy, which seemed to at least get Chaosdramon's attention. "Hey you over grown tin can! You can't hit me!"

"I will delete your programming for your insults!" Chaosdramon shouted at Magnamon, and proceeded to try and hit him with several blasts of his Hyper Infinity Cannon.

"Magnamon! Finish him off!" I shouted up to my partner. I knew what he was doing at this point. It was a strategy we'd discussed using when we'd spar with Tai. WarGreymon was more powerful than Magnamon right now, which meant that in a straight up contest of strength, he'd win. So to try and beat that, we'd attempted to tire him out. The plan didn't really work so well against WarGreymon since he hadn't used any attacks, but Chaosdramon had to be almost out of juice with all of those attacks

"Right Davis!" Magnamon replied, flying right in at Chaosdramon. He landed a kick on the large digimon, and then gathered all of his power. "It's time to end this! Magna Explosion!"

Magnamon released all of his power in a single blast, hitting Chaosdramon at point blank range with the attack. I had to shield my eyes from the light of the explosion. When it finally cleared up I could see Magnamon hovering over a fallen Chaosdramon.

"Dude, I rock." Magnamon said as he landed right next to us. I gave him a thumbs up as he did, letting him have his moment of victory.

"DON'T BE SO SURE!" A voice shouted, and I spun around, along with Magnamon, to see Chaosdramon getting up off of the ground. Somehow he was still moving, though he had been heavily damaged. His armor was heavily damaged, with the majority of the top of it being completely destroyed. The creature beneath was a grotesque dragon like digimon, that was snarling at us.

"What…the…" I said, backing up as I looked at the hideous creature that was Chaosdramon.

"hahahahahhahaha," the digimon laughed crazily. "I'm not done yet! Hyper Infinity Cannon!" He fired his cannon off, but he wasn't aiming at anything, he as just firing.

"Get down!" Magnamon shouted, and I did, landing next to Ken and Sora.

"What happened to him?" Sora asked.

"I think Magnamon's attack really did a number in him. It wrecked the computer that's been controlling him, and now he's gone crazy!" Ken replied. "He's got all the power, and no control over it!"

"Magnamon, you're going to have to stop him." I said, looking over to Magnamon, only to find Veemon sitting there, holding his stomach.

"I think that might be a problem Davis." Veemon said. "My Magna Explosion took all my strength."

I looked back over to Sora and Ken, and all of us were probably thinking the same thing, crap.

"Mega Claw!" A familiar voice shouted, and I looked up to see WarGreymon charge right up at Chaosdramon. He flew past him so fast I'm not even sure Chaosdramon noticed him. I wasn't exactly correct.

"Oh no! Not again!" Chaosdramon shouted, just before his entire body exploded into data.

"Alright WarGreymon!" Another familiar voice shouted, and I looked up to see Tai running towards us with Izzy and Tentomon. I was even more surprised to see that they had another tablet with them.

Sora rushed up to Tai, and the two embraced each other as Izzy walked up to us.

"I see you found the Tablet." Ken remarked to Izzy as he picked up his unconscious partner.

"Yea." Izzy replied, giving Tai a weird look as he did this. "Two down, one to go."

~Chapter End~

_Alrighty, as Izzy said, two down, one to go, and in more way than one. Two Dark Masters down, one to go, then the real fight. Well, hopefully you guys enjoyed this. Until next week!_

_**Preview:**_

"_Now MetalGarurumon!" Matt shouted up to his partner, who suddenly burst from hiding, launching a missile barrage at the attacking digimon._

_They recoiled from us, trying to avoid the attack. I shared a glance with T.K., who nodded at me._

"_Now Angewomon!" I called out, and my partner launched herself forward._

"_Go MagnaAngemon!" T.K. shouted, and his partner joined mine. The counter attack had begun._

_**Review Replies:**_

_LyraXEthan: Thanks! and sorry, but no. I'm not a big fan of coupling digimon. If you want to imagine it being there, feel free to, but I'm not going to write it in there, sorry._

_JadeBrycin2116: Thanks! believe me, I wish I could write more and therefore post more, but sadly I can't. And I think there are a few people who'd like to see that, though I don't really know if I'd ever do that…I'm not sure I'd be able to do Tai and Davis credit lol. Thanks again!_

_Matani: I'm glad you liked the disclaimer. I've decided to make it a running joke, so expect more. Thanks again! The really ridiculous careers I like mocking, just to spite Toei…and thanks again. I'm liking them in this story as well, even if I'm not 100% a mimato shipper myself. And yea, he could hack himself…the freakin hacker of digimon…I bet Izzy would have loved him lol._

_TaioraWarrior: You're welcome! And thanks! And oh yea, I forgot about that guy, though he's a little less than what I'm envisioning Grademon to be. Plus he slept most the time lol. Yea, the next chapter should be good. And I wish I had more time with Drill City myself. I may come back and base a story here, something to do with the time between this and its sequel. And yes, Gomamon is the freakin mon._

_Supershooter: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed!_

_Crimson G: Thanks! and no, I haven't though I have been following the basics on the wiki site. You should recognize a few of the digimon in the upcoming battle from Xros wars, since I've decided to borrow a few of them for this._

_Supershooter:Wait, did you just not hate on a cliffhanger? *gasp!* lol. Yea, I had to think about that one myself, because Gatomon was defintly a sleep and I already made Yolei a sleeper, but ithought Kari and Hawkmon would both wake up. And thanks! it's something I've always strived to do, because Matt is not to blame for Sorato at all. After all, it's not him who went to Sora, it's the other way around._

_TheOmegaMan: I know, right? Matt's such a swell guy, even going back a story. I mean, he knew he was a jerk dating Sora, and tried to push her and Tai together, what more could you ask for? And I know, he totally deserves Mimi, way more than say, Joe would. She's he's consolation prize for being a nice guy. I also think I might give him a super awesome daughter, even if she does hate his guts. And yea, it's all Sora in this story. Ah, but if he did that then it wouldn't be as much fun. And T.K. will step up, eventually. Maybe I'll have him propose to Kari in a really nice scene, I know how much you love those…(oh, and there won't be an awesome marriage scene to follow it up, just fyi =p)_


	25. The Siege of Drill City

_Hey everyone, I know this update is a little late (like a week late) but here it is anyways, so enjoy yourselves, and try not to be too angry!_

_Disclaimer: And, I'm back! Those fools at Toei thought that a prison cell would hold me! Poor guys should have remembered Digmon! Hahahahaha! Now if only I'd managed to find the rights to digimon I could post this as a claimer rather than a disclaimer…_

_**Last Timeish:**__ The Safe group made it to Drill City, a large underground digimon city, where they planned to stay and recuperate. Matt woke up from being knocked out, and he and Mimi really hit it off as they toured Drill City. The day after being awoken though, the ruler of Drill City, a digimon called Grademon, called for Matt, and informed him of the large army that was just starting to besiege the city._

**Chapter 25 The Siege of Drill City**

_Kari_

I moved as quietly as possible down the deserted street, Gatomon on my shoulder remaining as quite as possible as well. I had to pay very close attention to where I was walking, since the illumination here in Drill City had been scaled down to almost 0.

The last week had been both the most intense and the scariest one of my life. It all started the day that Matt went to see the ruler of Drill City, Grademon.

~_Flashback~_

I was just finishing up some coffee with Hawkmon (the only digimon member of our group who didn't sleep until midafternoon) when Matt came back to the hotel we were staying at. I'd watched him leave with a pair of chess piece like digimon, which Hawkmon had identified as PawnChessmon, to go see Grademon a few hours before, when Hawkmon and I had first come down into the lobby.

He'd looked worried when he'd come up to me.

"We need to get the others, now." Matt said to me.

"Why?" I replied, surprised at his serious voice. I hoped things hadn't gone badly with Grademon. Maybe he was throwing us out of the city.

"We just all need to get together right now." Matt replied sharply, and I gave him a look. He was my brother's best friend and my boyfriend's brother, and one of my close friends, so I knew when something was up, like now.

"Ok, Hawkmon and I'll go get Mimi and Yolei, you get the boys." I said, after a slight pause. Matt nodded, and we headed upstairs. I opened the door to my room and proceeded to wake up the occupants (a dangerous task itself).

Not twenty minutes later (a very surprising fact since it was Mimi and Yolei that I was waking up and waiting to get ready) all of us were gathered in the lobby of the hotel, looking at Matt expectantly.

"Ok Matt, what's this all about?" Yolei asked, with a rather short voice, obviously not happy about being woken up before the crack of noon.

"Follow me, I'll explain on the way." Matt replied, not waiting for a reply and heading for the door.

_Something's defiantly up with him…_ I thought to myself as we all followed after him. Matt wasn't one to be all mysterious like this, unless he was attempting to impress a girl, and he wouldn't have dragged the rest of us with him like this just to impress Mimi.

We all exited the hotel building and out into the street, which was uncharacteristically crowded. Digimon were generally like most human teenagers, they didn't get up much earlier than midafternoon and usually spent most of the night awake. The last three days combined I hadn't seen this many digimon up and about this early in the day.

"Whoa, why are there so many digimon up and about?" Cody asked before I had the opportunity to ask. He usually woke up just as early as Hawkmon and I did, but hadn't this morning for some reason.

"That's what we're going to see Grademon about." Matt replied from where he was leading our group, walking right towards the center of Drill City. "There's a tiny complication."

"Well, what is it?" T.K. asked, looking over at his brother.

"Well, Puppetmon is here, with an army." Matt said continuing to push through the steadily growing crowd of digimon clogging the streets. I didn't have a reaction at first, thinking that the crazed puppet was trying to attack us in this city full of friendly (to us) digimon. Then the last three words of Matt's statement started to sink in.

"What?" Joe asked, obviously recovering faster than I had.

"Puppetmon's after Drill City, and he has an army with him." Matt replied, looking over his should at all of us. "I know, a digimon army? I hadn't really thought that such a thing existed either, but I saw it myself."

"A whole army of digimon, under Puppetmon's control?" Mimi asked looking up to Matt, who nodded. "What are we going to do?"

All of us looked at the others, then at the digimon rushing around us. My first thought was to get out of Drill City. We were supposed to be the safe group, trying to get away from Piedmon, not one that was about to be in the middle of a city in battle. That was my very first thought. As my panic faded though a different feeling came over me.

I was a digidestined, one of the protectors of the digital world. I was supposed to protect the digital world from dangers like Puppetmon, I was supposed to protect Drill City from something like this army, not run away from it. I don't really know where this feeling was coming from, whether a sense of duty as a digidestined, or some of my brother's protectiveness and adventurousness finally coming over me, or a mixture of both, I knew that I didn't want to leave the city and run away.

"What are we going to do?" I asked, speaking before Matt had really formed a response to Mimi. "We're going to help keep this army away from Drill City, that's what we're going to do. It's our duty as the digidestined to do that, and it's exactly what going to happen."

I looked around at the others, who had all stopped as I was speaking, and they all nodded at me, and I thought the looks of sudden determination on their faces mirrored the feelings I was having. Before I, or anyone else for that matter, could say anything else all of the digimon around us let out a cheer, apparently I'd said my statement loud enough for everyone to hear me loud and clear.

After that our progress was a faster, as all the digimon would clear a path for us, and cheer. Apparently word that we were staying to help had spread like wildfire, and all the digimon were thrilled. It was kinda like one of those movies, where the hero or heroes would go through the big city before a battle. All the people in the town would come out to cheer them on, just like the digimon were doing now. In a way I guess that's how things were. As the digidestined we were the digital world's heroes, even if we didn't usually think of ourselves in that way.

It didn't take us long to reach the Sanctuary at the center of the city, and we were quickly shown into one of the rooms just off of the main entrance. Inside was a fairly large conference room. In the center of the room was a large table with some sort of projector hovering over it. Most of the rest of the room was fairly unremarkable, except for a decent sized stone tablet hanging on one of the walls. My attention however was quickly diverted from the tablet as I noticed the room was already filled with a number of digimon, several of whom I'd never seen before.

There was an Andromon standing on the far side of the room, though I knew this was a different one than the one we knew. He had patches of yellow something strapped on top of his metallic parts, giving him a distinctive look.

Next to Andromon were two digimon I'd never seen before. Well, that's not entirely true. One of them was a green version of the digimon Willis's partner Terriermon had Golden Armor Digivolved into during the whole Kokomon incident, Rapidmon I think he was called.

The other was another humanoid digimon who looked vaguely like an armored wizard. He wore a red suit that was covered in silver armor. His head was covered in what looked like a purple wizards hat, and a purple cape covered his back. His hand was resting on a sheathed sword as he talked to the other two digimon.

I looked at the three digimon for a few more seconds before my eyes started to look over the room again, finally spotting the two digimon looking into the room from above. I could only see their heads as they looked into the room. One looked nearly identical to Agumon's Ultimate form, MetalGreymon, but I could see several subtle differences in his metal mask and the head under the mask. The other head I'd never seen before, though it belonged to a digimon just as massive as MetalGreymon. The bottom half of his head was incased in armor, opposite of MetalGreymon, and he had a red and white color scheme to him, compared to MetalGreymon's orange and blue one.

Finally the golden armored leader of Drill City stood off from all the gathered digimon, conversing with BanchoLeomon. He looked up a few seconds after we entered, and seemed to conclude his conversation with BanchoLeomon.

"Welcome digidestined." His gruff voice boomed across the room, drawing everyone's attention. "We can now begin."

The digimon all nodded, the three in the room heading for the table in the center of the room, which contained twenty seats, enough for everyone to have their own. I looked to Matt, as did everyone else, but he was already moving towards the table, so the rest of us followed, sitting down.

Grademon however remained standing until everyone was seated, and BanchoLeomon just stood off to the side of the table, not joining the group there. Once everyone was seated Grademon activated a large hologram of Drill City on the table, and began talking.

"As I'm sure all of you know by now, Puppetmon has arrived in our cavern, with a full army." Grademon began, looking out at all of us, digimon and human alike. "Our defenses are prepared, but with the addition of the digidestined to our defenses we need to discuss a change in strategy."

"How is the addition of the digidestined going to change our strategy." The Wizard like digimon asked Grademon. "They can't really change the battle dynamics that much. All of their partners are rookies or champions."

I looked at the digimon with a feeling of surprise at his statement. I guess everything about what we had done wasn't known to every single digimon.

"Mistymon, your years of solitude have left you misinformed." Grademon replied to the digimon. "Unlike the Chosen partners you are familiar with, these partners are able to digivolve to higher levels at will with the help of their human partners. Most of these rookies you see around you are just as powerful if not more so, than you, my five generals."

Mistymon looked at Grademon for a second then at all of our partners around the room, who were giving him the evil eye. He looked for a second more, and then bowed his head at Grademon.

"It appears that my information is incorrect them Lord Grademon." He said, and Grademon nodded.

"Now, as I was saying, this gives us several new abilities, as we know have a force of Ultimate and Mega Level digimon that are not needed at one of the specific city fronts." Grademon said, and then looked up to the two digimon looking into the room. "Therefore RizeGreymon, WarGrowlmon, your forces will now be responsible for the north and south sides of the city. Mistymon your forces will be moved to the west side, to fight alongside Rapidmon's forces in the area that should see the most fighting. Andromon, your forces will remain on the east side."

Each of the digimon nodded as Grademon gave them their orders, and a section of the hologram glowed as he named each area.

"My own forces will form the main reserve for the city. With different strike groups waiting at key locations all across the city." Grademon continues, several golden dots appearing around the city, spread behind the perimeter a good deal.

I didn't know a lot about strategy, I usually left that to the boys because there were things that interested me a lot more, but what little I knew suggested that Grademon was being pretty smart about his force deployment. At least, I think he was.

Grademon looked to us next.

"Digidestined, I'd like to use all of you as part of the reserve." Grademon said. "My forces consist of my own Knightmon and Chessmon corp, which are also needed throughout the city for different functions, even during a critical battle like this one. That limits the size of our reserve, unless you are willing to fill it."

Matt leaned forward a few seconds after Grademon spoke. He looked back and forth at all of us, and I just gave him a nod. I mean, it's not like any of us were going to say no, but Matt was the type of person who was going to make sure everyone was onboard with the plan rather than just deciding for all of us, like Tai would have. That's not to say that my brother's way was wrong, but it was different.

"Of course we can Grademon." Matt replied. "We'll be happy to help in any way we can."

"Excellent." Grademon replied, and then proceeded to work out how we would be split up and which areas we would cover.

~_UnFlashback_~

We'd eventually been split into pairs for the most part, which is why I was moving through the streets right now. I was heading for where I was supposed to meet up with Yolei, my partner. T.K. was partnered with Cody, and the two of them were on the south side of the city. The way we were partnered up put the strongest two Ultimates with the two digidestined who couldn't digivolve to Ultimate. Joe and Mimi were partnered, and currently on the north side of the city. Matt was on his own since Gabumon could go to Mega, and on the west side with me and Yolei.

_Well, this week certainly has been…different._ I thought to myself as I continued through the city. I'd gone back to get a change of clothes for myself and Yolei. We hadn't packed more than a couple of outfits for our stay at the front, thinking we'd be done with the battle relatively quickly, but this siege seemed to be lasting forever.

Gatomon was riding on my shoulder, half asleep I'm pretty sure, still exhausted from the last day's battle. Fighting nonstop like this wasn't something she'd done for a very long time, and she was thoroughly exhausted, in fact all of our partners were. I reached a hand up and scratched her in the spot she liked, right behind the ear.

I smiled as she let out a soft purr, and I was just about to turn a corner when suddenly there was a loud pop.

"Oh no…" I breathed. Gatomon's eyes shot open, and she was suddenly fully alert. Seconds later there were several more pops, and then all of the area around me was lit up, brighter than day.

"FLARES!"

"INCOMING!"

Dozens of voices started shouting, and I abandoned all my attempts at being quiet, instead running forward. A few seconds later the ground started shaking, and loud explosions started to rip through the air.

"Hurry Kari!" Gatomon urged me as I rushed through the streets.

"I know Gatomon." I replied, maybe a little sharper than I'd intended to, but the last week had frayed everyone's nerves quite a bit.

I rounded another corner and finally came into view of the defensive walls that were surrounding Drill City, and which were currently getting blasted with multiple explosive something or another.

I rushed right to the defenses, heading for the concealed entrance I knew was in the back of the wall ahead. I pushed through the concealment and into the main command post of this fortification.

Dozens of digimon were bustling about the room, which was filled with a giant holographic map of the battle area. Now this is definitely something that Tai and Davis, and Izzy and Ken for that matter would have been interested in, but I'd learned just how useful it could be as well.

I could see that the walls were taking quite a beating, again, from the forces that Puppetmon had arrayed opposite of the walls. I turned from the hologram over to where Yolei and Hawkmon were leaning against one of the outer walls, trying to stay out of the way.

We didn't really serve any specific purpose here in the defense center, but the hologram allowed us to know exactly where we would be needed during an attack, so it was the best spot for us to be. Matt would be in a similar one here on the west side, while the others would be in matching ones on the north and south sides.

"Got us some fresh clothes." I said, pulling my backpack off as Gatomon jumped off of my shoulders and onto the ground next to Hawkmon.

Yolei nodded as I sat down next to her. Looking out into the defense center we both sat down to begin the first part of every one of these battles, the waiting.

Each of the battles we'd been in over the last week could be divided into two parts, the waiting and the terror as I thought of them. The waiting would go like this. We'd sit here, sometimes for hours, sometimes for bare minutes waiting for some part of the battle area to need us, and then the terror would start. We'd rush to that area, and enter into the battle, which was terrifying for multiple reasons, as I'm sure any of you can imagine.

"I'm really starting to hate all this waiting." Yolei said after a few minutes. We'd stopped trying to avoid talking about the battles or the siege a long time ago, but this was a new topic for us.

"It's better than the actual battle." I replied. Yolei shrugged before responding.

"I'm just getting tired of letting them decide when the attacks will happen. It's exhausting." Yolei said back to me, and then leaned her head back against the wall.

"You can say that again." Gatomon said from where she was curling up for a cat nap. I smiled a tiny bit at the two of them. They were both use to a higher level of sleep than we were getting now, and it looked like it was starting to get to them. Luckily I knew they were both strong enough to get through it.

"Hmmm, it looks like you aren't the only ones tired with just sitting here." Hawkmon said suddenly, causing me to look at him, and Yolei to sit up.

"What?" She asked, and Hawkmon pointed at the hologram in the center of the room. I looked over at it, and noticed the group of blue colored icons moving from Drill City towards Puppetmon's army.

"Matt."

_Matt_

"Ice Wolf Claw!" Dozens of missile swept out and impacted on the flying fortress of a digimon, who proved to be no match for MetalGarurumon's attack, bursting into data seconds later.

"Alright!" I cheered, pumping an arm into the air before quickly grabbing a hold of MetalGarurumon with both arms again.

The digimon we had just destroyed was one of the ones that had been terrorizing Drill City all week. It was a CannonBeemon, a large flying digimon with a dozen different missile silos all over its body, each one capable of firing out a massive barrage at the city's defenses. Now there were a few less of them.

"Rapid Fire!" I turned to see Rapidmon send out a few missiles at another of the flying CannonBeemon, which also burst into data. The huge flying digimon had a good long range attack, but if you got in close to them they were easily taken out.

Most of Drill City's flying digimon were currently up in the air attacking the cumbersome CannonBeemon. Grademon had lured Puppetmon's general, a digimon called Tactimon, into leaving the CannonBeemon nearly unprotected. By never attacking them Grademon had lured them into a false sense of security.

_Though not quite as secure as I would have hoped…_ I thought to myself as dozens of Mekanorimon rose from the ground from where they'd been waiting to attack the city.

"Savage Emperor!" I looked to see Crowmon, another of the Ultimates who was with us, fire two powerful energy blasts at the rising champions, deleting a swath of them as they rose into the sky.

"Missile Storm!" Dozens of voices shouted out as the Pteramon who made up most of Drill City's aerial forces launched missiles as the Mekanorimon as well.

Most of Puppetmon's army was made up of the Mekanorimon, but like Drill City's forces there were a few Ultimates to provide support for those champion level digimon.

"Nuclear Laser!" A beam of energy shot up right in the middle of the formation of Pteramon, instantly deleting any of them that it touched. They scattered as the ground based attack continued, and the entire formation broke up. The MetalTyrannomon which had been waiting with the Mekanorimon looked up to the sky and attempted to pick off the other digimon in our formation, and protect the few remaining CannonBeemon.

"I think it's time to help everyone out a little." I said talking to my partner.

"Right." He replied, looking down at the four MetalTyrannomon who were picking off digimon one at a time. "Giga Missile!" MetalGarurumon did a little midair flip, as I held on for dear life, and launched a missile at the center MetalTyrannomon, which completely destroyed the massive monster. They may have been powerful digimon, but they weren't powerful enough to stand up to a Mega.

"Dark Side Attack!"

"Genocide Gear!"

A pair of voices called out a pair of attacks, and I looked up in time to see four missiles heading right for us. Luckily MetalGarurumon saw them as well, and moved to dodge them. His maneuvers however were a little too sudden for me, and I suddenly found myself falling towards the ground, fast.

"AHHHH!" I shouted as I plunged downwards, spinning through the air. I caught bits of the mid-air dogfight that ensued as Gigadramon and Megadramon entered the fight, and some of the Mekanorimon reached altitude. Missiles were flying everywhere and explosions dotted the sky. I took all of that in over the few seconds I spun around, and then I finally hit something solid.

"Gotcha." Rapidmon said as I landed right in his arms.

"Good catch." I said as MetalGarurumon caught up with us.

"Next time don't fall!" Rapidmon replied with a laugh, before taking off, right for Megadramon.

"We should probably back him up." I said after a second, and MetalGarurumon nodded before taking off after the mechanical bunny digimon.

"Ice Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon fired a barrage of missiles at the dark dragon digimon as it tried to take on a few of the Pteramon. Megadramon was a bit more resilient than the CannonBeemon had been, surviving the blast of the missiles, and turning towards us.

"Dark Side…" He started to shout, but was cut off mid attack.

"Tri Beam!" Rapidmon spread his body out so that his arms and legs formed a triangle, which in turn was filled by a green triangle. A beam shot straight out of the triangle, and cut through the distracted Megadramon, literally.

Megadramon had a second to scream in pain before he burst into data as well, and that pretty much signaled the end of the aerial battle. Gigadramon fell back, still outnumbered in ultimates despite having destroyed the Cyberdramon that had flown with us, and all the Mekanorimon had been destroyed.

More importantly a large force of Tankmon were rolling out of the city, along with a number of different Ultimate level digimon. This seemed to trigger a general withdrawal out of Puppetmon's army, retreating right for the defenses they had established around their camp. MetalGarurumon held up in the air as the battle shifted to a land battle, whose result was already determined.

"Looks like another stalemate." Rapidmon said as he floated over next to us.

"Yep, another stalemate." I replied as the battle continued just as it had every other day so far. Puppetmon's army would attack, we'd repulse the attack and counter attack, only to stop short of their camps defenses. Then later in the day it's repeat. That's how this entire week had played out.

"Rapidmon!" A voice called out suddenly, and I looked up to see a Flybeemon, a small digimon that worked as a messenger for Grademon, flying towards us.

"Yes Flybeemon." Rapidmon replied, looking at the smaller digimon as it hovered in front of him. "What is it?"

"Lord Grademon needs to see all of the digidestined, immediately." The digimon replied, and I looked at him, suddenly very interested.

_What could cause Grademon to need to see all of us digidestined right at this moment?_ I thought to myself as I looked at him. _Only one way to find out…_

_Kari_

Yolei and I were the last ones to arrive at the Sanctuary, entering into the same conference room that we'd met in a week before. All the other digidestined, and BanchoLeomon were gathered there waiting for us.

"Ok, everyone's here. Now what's up Grademon?" Matt asked seconds after Yolei and I took our seats. It was more than unusual for any of us to see the others, let alone all of us to be called into a single place at one time. I'd hardly seen any of the other digidestined for most of the week, let alone all of them at once.

"We've received a message, from Gennai." Grademon said looking around at all of us. His statement however had all of us instantly sitting forward. A message from Gennai? It could have something to do with the others we'd left behind, and I know I was excited. From the way everyone else was leaning in they were just as excited.

"What did he say?" Matt asked after a slight pause.

"Did something happen to the others?" I asked, hoping that nothing had happened to any of them, especially Tai.

"He did not mention the other digidestined." Grademon replied, looking between Matt and me. "In fact I do not think that he even knew you were here."

"He didn't?" Cody asked looking over to Grademon.

"No, I never informed him, and word wouldn't have spread with the siege happening." Grademon replied. "Anyways, it appears that your fellow digidestined may have found a way to stop Piedmon."

"They have?" Mimi asked, and a sudden excited buzz filled the room. Grademon simply nodded.

"They think they have." Grademon replied. "They need one last part to complete the puzzle that is their solution."

"Well, why did they send you a message about this?" Joe asked. "I mean, it's nice to let you know about this and all, but why you specifically."

"That is rather simple Joe." Grademon replied. "The last part of their puzzle may be the tablet there." Grademon pointed at the stone tablet hanging on the wall that I'd noticed my first time in this room. "The only problem is the fact that no digimon has ever been able to remove it from that wall."

"So how is Gennai supposed to use it?" Matt asked. Grademon leaned forward to reply, but T.K. spoke before he could.

"Wait, you said no digimon had ever moved it?" T.K. asked, and Grademon nodded.

"Yes. The inscription around it says that only a hero of the digital world will be able to move the tablet." Grademon answered. "Many noble digimon have tried, and all failed. However, no digidestined has ever attempted to remove the tablet."

We all looked at Grademon for a few seconds, and then stood up. All of us moved to the tablet, forming a semicircle around it. Matt was the first to step forward, placing a hand on either side of the tablet. As he touched the tablet the writing on it glowed, and he pulled it right off of the wall without a problem.

"Astounding." Grademon said as Matt easily pulled the tablet off the wall. "Every one of the stories is true." He bowed at Matt and then at the rest of us. "We must arrange a way for all of you to get out of the city and bring that tablet to Gennai."

The next couple of hours were spent working out exactly how we would get out of the city during the siege. Luckily it turned out that there was a secret entrance on the east side of the cavern wall, one we could use to escape from Drill City and its cavern. We were set to leave in the middle of the night.

The first part of the trip was uneventful, sneaking across the abandoned and mostly dark expanse between the edge of Drill City and the far wall of the cavern. The journey through the tunnel was just as uneventful. BanchoLeomon led the way, he had come along as our guide, holding a torch to light up our path as we travelled.

Luckily the tunnel wasn't that long, and we were soon standing under the stars, finally out from under the mountain.

"We're finally out of that cavern!" Mimi exclaimed, with a sigh of pleasure. Apparently the cavern life hadn't sat well with her. I saw Matt nod next to her, and let out his own sigh of contentment. Apparently it hadn't sat well with him either.

"You all must journey quickly. Time is of the essence with that tablet." BanchoLeomon said turning to regard all of us carefully. "You must get the tablet to Gennai so he can use it to stop Piedmon."

"Stop Piedmon?" An annoying voice suddenly exclaimed. "Oh this is much better than just finding a way into Drill City's unprotected side!"

I spun to see Puppetmon, along with several dozen other digimon all appearing out of the forest surrounding the clearing that contained the tunnel exit. Puppetmon was at the head of the group, holding his hammer.

"Flash Bancho Punch!" A fiery blast flew past me, hitting Puppetmon and sending the digimon flying backwards into a tree. BanchoLeomon rushed forward before Puppetmon's minions could react, or Puppetmon could react. "King Lion!" He slashed his sword straight down, cutting Puppetmon, as well as the tree, clean in half.

We all stood their stunned at how easily BanchoLeomon had destroyed Puppetmon. We'd needed several days to pin the puppet down long enough to finish him off, and here BanchoLeomon did it in a few seconds.

"Digidestined, go, I'll hold them off!" BanchoLeomon shouted as a pair of armored digimon appeared on either side of him, and started attacking him. I didn't want to just go, especially since these digimon seemed to be holding their own against BanchoLeomon, but someone grabbed my arm, and dragged me away.

The last sight I saw before T.K. pulled me onto Pegasusmon was BanchoLeomon surrounded by the forces Puppetmon had brought with him, and then the clearing was out of sight.

~Chapter End~

_Well, three down, only one left to go. Man, that Puppet lasted forever, even if he was destroyed in 2 seconds of combat. Well, hopefully you all liked the chapter, and have lots of questions about everything! Anyways, no preview for this week. After failing with last week's I need to sit down and plan them out a little better, sorry._

_**Review Replies:**_

_Soratomustdie:…Sorry, can't do that. However, I did hear that theomegaman was planning something like that, and it was going to involve TK. You might want to check it out._

_LyraXEthan: I'm sorry it's causing you headaches, but I'm glad it's confusing you, it's supposed to do that after all._

_Animepotterfan: Thanks! and I'm glad you enjoyed it. And yea, sorry that was two weeks, not one._

_TaioraWarrior: Now I've got a three chapter disclaimer going…maybe I should ask for ideas for the disclaimer next time…and no, Sora's not mentioned in the tablet at all. Just someone that looks like her lol. And yea, I actually was inspired on that by one of the comics, digimon next, so I can't claim full credit on it. And I like to think that Tai and Sora are connected (as I showed in chapter 3 with the whole Tai sense thing) so they know if they're ok or not. _

_TheOmegaMan: I'm actually thinking about using him in these disclaimers, it would be slightly less random, and I have a good idea for him…I really enjoyed writing the Chaosdramon fight, so I'm glad you liked it. And yep Gennai FTW…AND NO ONE CARES ABOUT NARUTO, SO DON'T QUOTE RANDOM NOBODIES FROM IT! Ok, I'm done now._

_xOne N Onlyx: I'm glad you liked my comparison. I meant for it to be just like that, not to mention fairly funny I like to think. And you and me both…lol. And yes, they are based on that, so you should read up, you'll be a little less lost, and kinda figure out where I might be going, maybe._

_Supershooter: The lame stuff is always the funniest in Digimon…lol. Good call with the last tablet, even if they didn't really have to find it, it was shown to them._

_TheOtherGuy4544:You know, I was really dreading this as I was replying…yet really looking forward to it at the same time. Now, SUPER REVIEW REPLY POWERS ACTIVATE! (yea, I went there. That's for dropping the F-bomb in your DW review) Yea, I can't even remember, though it might have been legendary, that word always works. How was this chapter for less slow paced? I mean I had a giant battle, strategy sessions, and Puppetmon getting cooked. How's that for good? Biggest and best protected. Also, it wasn't the digital world's largest city, but it was harder than any of the other ones. Anyways, it's only been like a week or two. Piedmon has to build an army for Pete's sake! YEP, Davis FTW. And yea, I thought I would get all of that into the open for kicks and giggles, plus an interesting perspective. And yep, Davis and Ken FTW, though no Imperialdramon…sad day. And I usually do, but I'm trying this out to prepare for the sequel, which will have to have multiple perspectives to work. Or be under a million words. Exactly. And I only pick on Davis cause he's my second favorite. At least I'm not making him a complete idiot like most people do. Good thinking for you….what could happen when he gets the Digimental…hmmm, decisions decisions…and yet again, reading the manga will unconfused you quite a bit. And yea, I loved that line. And no. unless by popsicle you mean getting cut in half.__ Thought I'd change that up, just for you._

_Jmeb0430: Thanks! I like to think all of them would learn and pass on their lessons, rather than make the same mistakes over and over again. I agree that Ultimates are powerful, but way outclassed by Megas. I tried to show a little of that here, hope you enjoyed. I thought those were particularly good myself, and yea, I like them better as well._

_Jmeb0430: You can always leave an anynamous review, that always works. And yes Tai and Sora have a special connection, but no, it does not lead to DNA digivolution. Sorry, I don't like made up digimon very much, so I'll stick with the hundreds that are available for use._

_Crimson G: ok, this ended up slightly not how I planned, with more of a mention than a use…maybe another chapter will have more…sorry. Things just sorta took on a life of their own when I started writing, and I didn't do things how I originally planned. Thanks!_

_Matani: I personally don't like made up digimon, I just may have to use one to fill a spot in another story, so I'm feeling out my readers. Thanks! and good call on your part!_

_Ezio Uchiha: Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying, and you like my Mimato. Thanks again! That's really something I've strived to do in this story! And maybe at some point. Right now I have 5 more decent sized fic planned and I've learned I can't do more than two at a time. There will certainly be more Mimato in some of my other fics, but probably not as a main couple, sorry._

_Bekronthegreat: Thanks!_


	26. Getting the Band Back Togethe

_Well hi everyone, it's Sunday, and that means an update! No skipping this week! Yay! Now, on with the disclaimer show!_

_Disclaimer: Ok, so I don't own digimon, we discussed this last week, because I didn't manage to tactically acquire the rights while being held captive at the Toei building. Now I did manage to knock down the executive suite with my pal Digmon, but now Toei's retaliating. Apparently they're going to do something that will end all thoughts of undoing Sorato forever, so now I've got to stop that. So, until next time!_

_Ok, I know this is random, but it's going somewhere, I promise._

_**Last TImeish: **__Ok, there was this big siege at Drill City, lots of fighting and Matt finally getting to be the impulsive on. Then Gennai calls Grademon for the Tablet he has, so the DD break out of the siege to bring it to Gennai. BanchoLeomon shows of his BAness, and smokes Puppetmon in two seconds flat, then holds off the rest of Puppetmon's army so the DD can escape._

**Chapter 26 Getting the Band Back Together**

_Tai_

"Ha, I've got three aces, beat that!"

"Ok, I've got a straight flush."

"WHAT? How did you beat me again?" Davis shouted, causing me to sit up from where I'd been laying down on Gennai's sofa. Davis was diving at Agumon, who was attempting to avoid my protégé's attack. I laid back down on the sofa I was on, ignoring Davis and all of the digimon's antics.

It had been a few days since we defeated Chaosdramon and gotten the second Tablet, and now we were in more of a waiting game than before. We managed to figure out where the last Tablet was, sort of. Gennai told us about this digimon city that had a building that matched the description that described the final temple, so he'd sent a message to the city asking about it.

That had been yesterday, and we were still waiting for a response, so we were all sitting around, waiting again. Izzy and Ken were once more exploring Gennai's vast library of knowledge (though Ken was doing so less and less, I think he was actually getting a little bored with it), Sora, Davis, and I were just hanging around Gennai's house, doing different thing.

Right now Sora was asleep in one of the bedrooms, while Davis was playing poker with the digimon again, and losing again. It seems that once the digimon learned the game they'd become quite good at it, almost eerily so. Either way, that led to the current situation of Davis chasing Agumon around the house while the rest of the digimon just sat there and laughed at Davis.

I however just went back to my musings, which was what our next move should be after we got the next Tablet. We still had to get the Tablet of course, so we might be going on a trip out to this Drill City place (honestly, who names a city DRILL CITY? I mean seriously, get some imagination digidom) to retrieve the Tablet. Then we would have to figure out how the three Tablets would lead us to the Digimental, and finally go get said Digimental.

Then of course were the decisions coming from that, like would we need the others to come back, when should we get them to come back, how exactly does this Digimental thing work? My head was buzzing with all of these questions, and it was giving me a massive headache.

_Why couldn't things be simple for once in my life…because then I wouldn't get headaches, and things would be too easy, of course._ I thought to myself, a smile forming on my lips as I thought that. Then there was a crash, coming from what sounded like the kitchen.

This time I actually got up off of the sofa, heading into the kitchen, followed by all the digimon. Davis and Agumon were somehow tangled up in several of the chairs that had been left lying around the kitchen after our last group meeting earlier in the day.

"A little help please?" Davis asked from where his head was stuck between the legs of one of the chairs. I didn't even know how he, or my partner for that matter, had managed to get stuck that well, but I couldn't just help them out, not without showing everyone else first.

"Ok, just a minute, I think I might need a little help." I told Davis, an evil grin on my face.

"Oh no, Tai please don't!" Davis exclaimed as I walked out of the kitchen. "Tai!"

As I walked back into the living room Sora walked in, rubbing her eyes as she'd just woken up.

"Good morning Sunshine." I said cheerfully as she looked at me like she really didn't want it to be morning just yet.

"What's all the racket?" She asked, stopping a few feet from me.

"Davis, of course." I replied, and then gestured for her to follow me. "I think you'll like this though." I led her into the kitchen where Davis and Agumon had somehow managed to get even more tangled up than they were when I'd left.

Sora looked out at the two of them, and then laughed at the two of them.

"How did you two manage this?" She asked, sounding more like her normal self than she had before.

"It's not like we meant to do it, now would you help us out of this?" Davis replied, while Agumon nodded emphatically. I looked over to Sora, and she nodded, so we went over to begin helping the two of them out of the chair prison.

It took a lot longer than I'd expected. It's like every part of them that had gotten stuck had grown after they got it stuck. Either that or the chairs were actually part of Gennai's secret torture chamber, and shrunk down to hold the two prisoner after they crashed into it.

Just as we were finishing freeing the two of them, the door to Gennai's offices opened, revealing Gennai, Izzy, and Ken, who all looked surprised to see all of us, freeing Davis and Agumon.

"What happened here?" Izzy asked, looking at all of us. Ken however replied for all of us, with a perfectly simple answer.

"Davis." He said, earning a HEY! From Davis and a laugh from the rest of us. Well, the rest of us but Gennai, his face was still serious, somewhat abnormally. Gennai then cleared his throat, getting all of us to shut up.

"We have word from Dill City." Gennai said, earning our attention to go with the silence from before.

"So, do they have the Tablet? When do we go?" Davis asked from where he was still sitting on the ground. Gennai turned to him and nodded.

"They indeed to have the Tablet." He told Davis, and the younger boy jumped up to his feet.

"Alright! What are we waiting for, let's go!" Davis exclaimed, energized like I hadn't seen him in days.

"It's not that simple Davis." Gennai replied. "Drill City is currently besieged by one of Piedmon's armies."

"Wait, Piedmon has armies?" Sora asked, looking over at the old looking digital being. "Since when do digimon have armies?"

"Digital armies have long been a part of the digital world." Gennai replied, looking over at Sora. "Did you think that the first war against the Dark Masters was fought by a few individuals? No, massive armies were used in that conflict."

"Then how come we never saw any of these massive armies?" I asked, wondering why these so called armies were never used against us, they certainly would have made defeating all of our enemies much harder. "I mean all of our enemies had some lackeys, but never an army."

"Most of your enemies never had the time to assemble a powerful army to support them, especially since most of the digimon who would have joined them were already in the Dark Master's army." Gennai replied. "And the reason you never saw the Dark Master's army was twofold. First you defeated them faster than their armies would have assembled. Second, their over confidence in being able to deal with the eight of you without their armies caused them never to call them up in the first place."

I was a little shocked at this revelation, and suddenly glad that our enemies had been so over confident. The minions we'd fought getting to the Dark Masters had been bad enough, fighting through an army worth of them would have been next to impossible.

"Well, do we have any armies on our side?" Davis asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Several forces of digimon have banded together to defend their homes, but few can stand up to the armies that Piedmon is sending against them." Gennai replied. "Piedmon has the ability to power up his servants, allowing them to defeat almost all of the defense forces."

"So is the same thing happening in Drill City?" I asked, dreading the answer. If Drill City was conquered we'd have to find some way to either recapture it or sneak in to steal the tablet, and after my last encounter with one of these Tablets I'm not so sure if we'd be able to sneak it out. Those things seemed to light up like a Christmas tree every time I was near them.

"Actually no." Gennai replied. "The message from the ruler of Drill City, Grademon, was heavily garbled, but from what I could pick up Drill City is still holding out, for now."

"Well that's good to hear." Sora said, letting out a relieved breath. I looked over at Izzy and Ken however. The two of them were quiet, uncharacteristic for Izzy at least. Usually he would be asking a host of questions himself, so I had to assume that he already had asked Gennai, before they'd come out here.

"Indeed." Gennai nodded at Sora. "I was also able to pick out the fact that he was sending a group here, with the Tablet."

"So we don't need to fight our way through hordes of evil digimon to get the Tablet?" Davis asked, and I could sense more than a little bit of disappointment in his voice.

"You could try to sound a little less disappointed Davis." Sora scolded him, causing me to smile a bit, remembering many of the times Sora had scolded me just like that. Something gave me the feeling that Davis would be just as unaffected as I was by her scolding.

"When are they supposed to be arriving Gennai?" I asked as I smiled.

"Within a day or two." Gennai replied. "I don't think they'll be able to find my house, few can after all, so I would like all of you to go out and meet them, and then bring them back here."

"Ok, sounds good to me." I replied, and then continued talking as I thought aloud. "That should get the Tablet into our protection sooner."

"Yep. And the sooner we can get that Tablet, the sooner we can finish off Piedmon and go home." Davis said, leaning back in the chair he was sitting in. Unfortunately for him he leaned back a little too far, and the chair pitched over backwards, ending with Davis lying on his back.

"Why does this always happen to me?" Davis asked, and the rest of us burst out laughing.

I laughed with the rest as Agumon helped Davis to his feet, but now I was worrying about our next problem, when did we contact the others to come back?

Did we send for them now, getting them back sooner, but also putting them in more danger, or did we wait until we had the Digimental and then send for them. The down side to the first one was obviously the fact that they'd be in danger with the rest of us until we found the Digimental, all but cancelling out the reason for their cross continental flight. Of course the downside of calling them back after we had the Digimental was almost worse. If Piedmon found out about the Digimental and came after us we might not be able to stop him without the others, and things would be really really bad.

_Ugh, when did things get so hard?_ I asked myself as everyone broke up, the meeting done with. _Making these decisions used to a lot easier. The hardest thing used to be getting everyone to go along with a decision, not making it._

I ran my hands through my hair, looking up at the ceiling as I sat there thinking.

"Penny for your thoughts?" A voice asked, and I looked over to see Sora still in the kitchen with me.

"Just trying to figure out when we should call the others." I replied, sighing as I said that. "You know, making decisions used to almost be easy, sometimes, ok, on occasion…" I started to say, but as I really thought about it the decisions had never really been that easy, one would put us in a lot of danger but move us closer to saving the world, while the other would do the opposite.

Sora just smiled at me, taking my hand.

"I know what you mean Tai. Things are a lot different this time around." Sora said, and I nodded. "Well I wouldn't fret about it too much. You'll make the right decision when the time's right, you always do."

I smiled at her and nodded.

"Thanks Sora."

_Sora_

I held on tight as Birdramon descended towards the ground. Gennai had figured out that the best spot to stop the group that was coming from Dill City would be to meet them here, and then head back to Gennai's house, so Tai, Davis, and I had all come out here to meet them.

Birdramon flared her wings as we neared the ground, slowing her descent at the last second and landing in the clearing we'd agreed to meet in. Seconds later Greymon came crashing through the woods from the direction of Gennai's house, followed seconds later by Raidramon. Tai and Davis were on their respective digimon.

"Alright Greymon! I knew you could beat him!" Tai cheered as the digimon came to a halt. Both of them were panting heavily, like they'd just been racing.

_Every time…_ I think to myself as I sigh.

"The only reason he won is because you had him Nova Blast the bridge, while me and Raidramon were on it!" Davis exclaimed, and I did notice that Davis seemed to be soaked from head to foot. Both Greymon and Raidramon reverted back to their rookie forms as Davis started arguing with Tai.

"You never said we couldn't use their attacks." Tai replied, looking smug. He seemed to notice me arriving because he turned to me.

"What do you think Sora, should attacks be allowed when racing digimon?" He asked, and I just gave him an exasperated look. That was the thing with Tai. As serious as he could be when it came down to serious matters, he was still a six year old at heart. I gave him a look to tell him exactly how I felt on the matter, which of course he didn't get.

"See, she agrees with me!" Tai exclaimed, and I reached towards him, intending on giving him a noogie (my best method of proving a point to both Davis and Tai) when all three digimon stiffened. Tai immediately sobered up, a serious expression appearing on his face.

"What is it Biyomon?" I asked, looking over to my partner.

"Digimon." Biyomon whispered back. "Several of them."

"This could be the group we're expecting." Davis said, in a whisper, for once.

"Maybe, but let's not take the chance, you two stay back for now, I'll wait here." Tai said, looking between Davis and me. I was going to protest but Tai kept talking before I could voice my protests. "I want you two as backup in case it is some of Piedmon's forces."

I looked at him for a second, and then nodded, heading over to the edge of the woods surrounding the clearing with Biyomon, Davis and Veemon doing the same a little ways away from me. As soon as I got myself out of sight I turned back to look into the clearing. Tai and Agumon were waiting there, looking completely relaxed as they waited.

The wait wasn't long as I started to pick out the sounds of something big moving through the woods, crashing through it just like Greymon would have.

_I wonder what digimon were sent from this Drill City place. I mean, it could be a Greymon after all._ I thought to myself, watching the direction from which the noise was coming from.

Seconds later a digimon burst from the woods, dashing across the ground right at Tai. I recognized the blue and white furred digimon immediately, as did Tai. Garurumon slid to a halt just before running over Tai. I was utterly surprised both by the fact that it was Garurumon and the fact that Matt and Gomamon were on his back.

"Matt?" Tai asked, looking up at the blond.

"Tai?" Matt asked, looking down at him as well.

"What are you doing here?" The two asked at the same moment. They looked at each other for another few seconds, and then Tai burst out laughing.

"We couldn't have timed that better if we'd tried!" He laughed, and I decided enough was enough and came out of the woods. Garurumon tensed as I came out of the woods, but relaxed when he made eye contact with me.

"Hey Sora!" Gomamon called out, seeing me before Matt did. Tai looked back and briefly made eye contact with me before turning back to Matt. Before he could speak however something else came lumbering out of the woods, which I quickly recognized as Ankylomon, Armadillomon's champion form. Joe, Mimi, and Palmon were riding on his back.

"huh?" Joe asked as Ankylomon stopped just next to Garurumon. "Tai, Sora?"

"And Davis to!" Davis shouted, coming out of the bushes as Ankylomon arrived.

"What are you guys doing here?" Matt asked, climbing off of Garurumon's back as he reverted back to Gabumon.

"We're here to meet a group bringing us this Tablet thingy." Davis replied, looking over at Matt.

"What are you guys doing here?" Tai asked sounding a little concerned.

That I could understand completely, as at least half the "safe" group was back in the middle of a warzone.

_Speaking of that, where were Kari, T.K., Cody, and Yolei? _I thought to myself.

Then, almost on cue with my thoughts a pair of winged digimon descended into the clearing, releasing T.K., Kari, Cody, and Yolei before reverting to Patamon and Hawkmon.

"Tai!" Tai, as well as the rest of us, turned as Kari all but tackled her brother. The two of them had always been close, so I'm sure their separation hadn't been that fun at all. The two siblings hugged for all of three seconds before Kari let go of her brother.

"Ok, I'm going to ask one more time, what are you guys doing here?" Tai asked, and I could tell he was even more concerned now than he was before. Seeing that his sister was indeed back in the warzone was the cause of that, if I knew Tai, which I did.

"Well, you see." Matt started to say, swinging around the backpack on his back and opening it up. He pulled out a stone Tablet that was easily recognized by Davis, Tai, and I. "We're the ones with the Tablet."

Well, that's certainly a new twist…

_Tai_

"We're the ones with the Tablet." Matt said. They had the Tablet, the "safe" group was the one with the Tablet, from a city that was currently under siege.

_Well, look on the bright side, now it seems like you worrying about when to call the others back is a moot point…_ I thought to myself.

_Yea, and the people you thought were safe were in the middle of a warzone for the entire time you thought they were safe…_ I also thought to myself.

"Hey Matt, could I talk to you for a minute, alone." I asked, letting a little bit of a bite enter my voice. I could tell that he recognized it as he winced, and then nodded.

"Tai…" Sora started to say, but I gave her a look which caused her to stop before she finished speaking. Matt and I walked a little distance from the others.

"What the hell Matt?" I asked, looking at him. "You took the "safe" group to a city that was under siege by Piedmon? How is that in any way safe?"

I was actually a little surprised at just how angry I was, but then of course Gennai's stories about what had happened to several of the cities across Server were still fresh in my mind.

"It wasn't safe, at all." Matt replied, and I opened my mouth to yell at him some more, but he kept talking. "But, we didn't really have a choice."

"You didn't have a choice?" I asked, a little curious now.

"Yea. We got attacked by Puppetmon a few days after leaving." Matt started. "I got hurt, and we were saved by BanchoLeomon."

"BanchoLeomon?" I asked, confused. I'd heard of Saber and normal Leomon, but not BanchoLeomon.

"Yea, our Leomon got a new Mega form." Matt replied. "Anyways, he took everyone to Drill City while I recovered. By the time I was up and about Puppetmon had arrived at Drill City."

"Well, why didn't you guys leave?" I asked. They'd been there before the battle had started, so they should have been able to get out, especially with MetalGarurumon and MagnaAngemon to blast a path for them.

"The army was already there, and we couldn't have just left the city like that." Matt replied, looking right at me.

"Sure you could have." I replied, and I could see that Matt was starting to get angry. That didn't really bother me because I was already angry. I'd trusted him to keep the "safe" group safe, and he'd done anything but that.

"Would you have left?" Matt asked, and I fought back a snarl.

"That's why I put you in charge." I replied, looking at him. "If I'd wanted you to do something I would do, I would have sent Davis off with them instead of you."

I clenched a fist as I said this, knowing this argument was about to come to blows, as our arguments often did, that's when someone intervened.

"Ok, that's enough." Someone said behind me, and both of us turned to see Sora and Mimi walking over to us.

"Sora…" I started to say, but one look from her shut me straight up.

"Now you two listen here, because all of us could hear your argument." Sora said, a lot less loudly than we had been talking. "Matt, you probably should have left this city when a freaking army showed up." Sora told the blond, and I smiled at him, only to have Mimi look at me.

"And you, Tai, you shouldn't criticize Matt for doing something that you wouldn't have even considered not doing." Mimi said, poking me in the chest for emphasis. "How do you think the rest of us feel about protecting the digital world? You're not the only one who feels an obligation to help at all the digimon here."

I back away slightly from Mimi as she had a very angry look in her eyes, and if there was one thing I had learned about the brunette was that she was quite dangerous when she was angry, just like Sora. I looked across to Matt, and was suddenly less angry at him. Mutual survival was much more pressing than our little argument, and I could see agreement in his eyes. We'd stop arguing so Mimi and Sora didn't do anything drastic to us.

"Ok, we were both right, and both wrong."

_Sora_

"Ok, we were both right, and both wrong." Tai said from behind me where he was facing Mimi. Matt simply nodded, agreeing with my boyfriend.

"Good." I said, turning to Mimi and smirking a bit. "Now, let's go back to Gennai's."

Both boys nodded quickly, obviously still at least a little bit afraid of Mimi and me. I shared a look with her and had to smile at the way those two were acting.

The trip back was completely uneventful, other than members of both groups filling the others in on what had been happening over the last couple of weeks to both groups. That's how I found out about the encounter with Puppetmon and their time in Drill City, in addition to Mimi's pseudo relationship with Matt.

I had to laugh a little upon hearing about that. Tai and I had always joked that Mimi and Matt would make a good couple, if they ever spent any time together, which it seemed had finally happened.

"So what happened with you guys while we were gone?" Mimi asked as we closed in on Gennai's home. "Last I remember you and Tai wouldn't even talk to one another."

"Well, we got over that little fight, or rather I got us out of that." I replied, thinking back on that fight for the first time in a long time. It seemed like so long ago, yet it had barely been two weeks since we'd had that fight. "It turned out the two of us were just being a little thick headed about the whole thing. It just took a little bit of talking and everything was smoothed out."

"Well that's good to hear." Mimi replied, sounding relieved. "I wasn't sure what we would find here if you two hadn't made up." I laughed at that. "So what happened with trying to find a solution to Piedmon after that?"

"Well, we found one, at least we think we have." I replied, looking down to where Garurumon and Greymon were trekking through the forest below us. "There's this thing called the Digimental. Apparently it will allow our partners to all achieve new power, which hopefully will be enough to stop Piedmon."

"That's great!" Mimi exclaimed, sounding excited. We were nearing Gennai's house, and Birdramon started to descend. "But what does it have to do with this stone thing we brought from Drill City?"

"Well, the Digimental was hidden away long ago, and the only way to find it is to use that Tablet, and the two others we have with us to locate it." I replied, as we landed. "That's why we needed this one, so we could actually find the Digimental."

Mimi nodded as the other flying digimon landed and Dedigivolved, followed by Greymon, Raidramon, and Garurumon arriving and dedigivolving. Tai and Matt led us straight down into the lake and down to Gennai's home.

"…So you really flew out over an angry army of evil digimon?" I heard Tai asking Matt as we walked down the stairs.

"Several times." Matt replied, and I could hear just how smug his voice is.

"Man, next time we're doing this you get to stay here and do boring things while I get to go fight in a huge battle!" Tai exclaimed, his earlier anger either forgotten or well hidden since Mimi and I were near.

"You can have my spot Tai, I'd rather deal with Boring than another siege any day." Kari said, heading down the stairs. I turned to look at the younger Kamiya.

"I wouldn't be so quick with your words if I were you Kari, we had to deal with GigaSeadramon and Chaosdramon in the three hours that were, as Tai would put it, fun." I told her, knowing that Kari was anything but eager to meet up with any of the Dark Masters again.

"GigaSeadramon, Chaosdramon?" T.K. asked from where he was walking between Kari and Davis.

"Yea, MetalSeadramon and Machinedramon, mark 2." Tai said, as we finally reached the door to Gennai's house. "Though, now that I think about it, both new versions met their ends in the same exact way they did originally. Maybe they weren't that bad after all…"

"Speak for yourself." I said as I opened the door to Gennai's. "You showed up at the very last second with Chaosdramon, that guy almost had the rest of us."

"Well, I showed up on time didn't I?" Tai asked, grinning at me, and I couldn't help but grin back at him as we entered the house. Izzy and Ken were waiting for us, and were just as surprised as we were about the identity of the ones carrying the Tablet turned out to be the rest of our team.

Gennai came out as well, and after a few minutes of everyone catching up with each other, he took the Tablet from Matt and headed to the back. A little while later Izzy, Cody, Ken, and Yolei all followed him, saying they were going to try and help him out.

_Tai_

We were all sitting around in Gennai's living room, well, at least us humans the digimon were in the kitchen pigging out on any food they could find, when it happened.

One minute we're all sitting there talking and chatting, and in general not arguing with Matt, when the lights went out.

"What the…" I heard Davis ask from next to me. Everyone else also started asking what was going on, concerned. I was just as confused, but something was telling me it wasn't just random that the lights had gone off.

"Everyone, quiet!" I exclaimed, loudly enough to go over everyone else's voices. They all shut up immediately, which was I thankful for. I strained to listen, and I was rewarded by the crunching of someone walking outside. Everyone stiffened as we heard it at the same time. I was more than a little concerned. All of the digimon were in the other room, and any call out to them would definitely be heard from outside.

That's when I felt something tug at my shirt. I almost jumped straight out of my skin, and looked down to see Agumon standing there, looking up at me. Situation corrected.

I pulled out my digivice, and gestured to the door. Agumon looked at me for a second and nodded. He waited another few seconds and then dashed at the door. My digivice lit up as I felt the power of my Crest flow through me and into it.

"Agumon warp digivolve to! WarGreymon!" WarGreymon hit the door at a dead run, breaking through it in a second, and sending the entire room, and outside for that matter into sheer chaos.

"Hellfire!" A voice not belonging to any of the digidestined shouted, and suddenly there were hundreds of gun shots. I grabbed Sora and Joe, both of whom had been sitting next to me, and pulled the two of them to the ground as the bullets ripped through the room we were in.

"Mega Claw!" The gunshots stopped as WarGreymon seemed to have found his opponent.

"Veemon! Golden Armor Energize!" Davis shouted from somewhere else in the room, and suddenly a golden glow flew out from Davis and hit something in the middle of the room. Suddenly Magnamon was flying through the door WarGreymon had destroyed, out into Gennai's yard.

I sneaked a glance out as Magnamon lit up the entire yard. I could make out WarGreymon grappling with Astamon in the middle of the yard.

"Magna Punch!" Magnamon flew forward and hit Astamon before the digimon could react, sending him flying across the yard. He flipped end over end, but landed on his feet across the yard from the two digimon. He looked at them and then over towards us in the house.

"Hellfire!" He brought his gun around, pointing right at us, and I ducked down, doing my best to cover Sora as the bullets from his gun ripped through the house. Bare seconds after it started the gunshots stopped, and I looked up. WarGreymon and Magnamon were standing between Astamon and the house, WarGreymon had his Brave Shield out blocking Astamon's attacks, while Magnamon was blocking it with some sort of energy shield.

"Gabumon!" Matt shouted from somewhere in the ruined front room. Seconds later I saw the shape of Gabumon rushing forward, and a blinding light flashing from where Matt was.

"Gabumon warp digivolve to! MetalGarurumon!" MetalGarurumon leapt over WarGreymon and Magnamon, heading right for the surprised Astamon.

"Metal Wolf Claw!" He sent a blast of icy energy right at the suited digimon, who had to abandon his attack to avoid the blast, jumping to the very edge of Gennai's yard. I watched him, when I noticed a shape appear next to him. His usual partner Doumon appeared next to him, and then the two turned and left.

"Yea! That's right! Run away!" Davis got up and shouted after the two digimon as they departed. A few seconds later the power came back on and our partners dedigivolved.

"JOE!" Yolei's voice cut through the silence that descended for a moment. Joe didn't even hesitate before getting up from where I'd knocked him down to the ground and dashing towards Yolei's voice.

"Stay here!" I exclaimed, looking at Matt and Davis before dashing after Joe. Yolei's shout didn't sound good. I followed Joe into the back, to where Gennai's offices were, and came upon a wrecked scene. The entire room had been trashed, and Tentomon, Wormmon, Hawkmon and Armadillomon were all knocked out on the ground.

Ken was leaning against one of the bookcases, a rather nasty looking cut across his forehead.

"Yolei, it's not that pressing." Ken said in his usual quiet voice as Yolei was obviously distraught over his state. Joe went right to him, pulling out his med kit as he knelt down. That under control I turned to Izzy.

"Izzy, what happened here?" I asked, and he looked up at me.

"Doumon Tai." Izzy replied, and there was something in his voice that I'd never heard before, almost like fear. "She took them."

"What?" I asked confused. "What did she take?"

"The Tablets."

_OH NOES! Doumon has the Tablets…but doesn't that mean Piedmon has the Tablets? Well, I think it's time for the DD to abandon ship, cause they just can't seem to catch a break! Oh well, until next time folks!_

_**Review Replies:**_

_TaioraWarrior:…of course…Thanks! I really enjoyed writing all of those parts, once I figured out how I wanted to do them at least. And yea, Puppetmon is my least favorite, so he was going to die the fastest no matter what happened. And thanks! (and I know right? Lol) and he has a lot of finals, at least that's what he's telling me._

_LyraXEthan: Thanks! and I did. I always hated the puppet, so he was going to die quickly._

_The other Guy: Yea, replying this much really cuts into my sleeping time, which is important. And that was just a really good excuse for me. And I know Grademon is an Ultimate, but Piedmon isn't here. He's a cocky bastard who is letting his minions do the dirty work, which is what's going to get him killed. And no, you can't meet Pete, so don't ask. And I was tempted to do Mimi and Gatomon for this chapter, but something about that just seemed wrong. And hey! I can complain if I want! And bring it! I'll take you out!_

_Ezio Uchiha: Ok, and I'll do my best to make them good. I think I've got some good ideas in them, but we'll see. And thanks! and yea, Davis would have loved battling all the time, even if he wouldn't have liked sitting still._

_TogetherAgain: Thanks! a bunch! _

_Bekronthegreat: yea, I'm not watching it, but I've read up on it a little bit and decided to borrow a digimon or two, though I was planning on more. Maybe some other time there will be more._

_TheOtherGuy4544: long review! Yay! And activate SUPER REVIEW REPLY POWER! (yea, I went there again, what you going to do about it?) Matt was just being snappy because he had a whole FREAKING digital army showing up when he was supposed to be keeping everyone safe! You try not being snappy if that happened to you! Let's see, Everyone knew in the last chapter as well, just FYI and that's because they're observant, and not dumb. And the same thing they wore on day one, only a clean set of said clothes. And for that See Tactimon, Puppetmon's general. And for that, use your damn imagination, I'm not doing everything for you! And no, all the portals to the real world are shut down, remember? And that's because there are very few digimon that actually make it to Mega, especially since the last time the Dark Masters were around and KILLED EVERYONE! So they haven't made it to mega yet (see the sequel for mega awesomeness!) And Mistymon encountered the very original digidestined, way and the hell back when, though I leave the rest to you asking questions. And yes, the robo dog is the end all of weapons, obviously. And see Tankdramon for that one. I'm saying they have flares built in, so you can get over it. And I see how it is, I put in hard work, and all you can do is complain….CannonBeemon are ultimates, just really freaking huge ones, and yes, they are in one of the manga's but, I found them on the wiki mostly. You try being respectful after a week of the siege. In the start it was all respectful, but no longer. Thanks about Puppetmon, because I couldn't agree more._


	27. The Race

_Well folks, here we are. Only a few chapters left and this story will be concluded. Anyways, this chapter is a little short, but I think it's pretty good anyways, so enjoy!_

_Also, if you're a fan of Mimato, check out __Ezio Uchiha's Walking alone, it's a good read. (plus it has Taiora in it, so that's always a plus!)_

_(as a note, please read the disclaimer, I'm pretty sure most of you will find it most amusing, though that might just be because I have a sick sense of humor)_

_**Disclaimer**__: (As a special presentation the Toei Company is proud to bring you the wedding of Matt Ishida and Sora Takenouchi! And to make sure both the bride and the groom participate in the wedding despite their protests there are several armed members of the Toei security contingent present to make sure they don't leave or otherwise attempt to derail the wedding.)_

_Random announcer person: And here it is, the day that all the crazy executives at Toei have been waiting for! The wedding between Sora and Matt! Now the wedding's presider Father…Beelzemon?_

_Beelzemon: Thanks for the intro, now let's go ahead and do the sparknotes version, YOU (looks at Matt) do you take her (Gestures at Sora) to be your wife and all that other stuff?_

_Matt: (looks at Sora, then back at the two armed Toei security members standing just behind them) I guess._

_Beelzemon: Good enough, now YOU (looks at Sora now) do you take blondy over there to be your husband and all the jazz that goes with that._

_Sora: (Does exactly what Matt did, and then in a very quiet voice) yes._

_Beelzemon: Well in that case, by the power invested in me by somebody, I now pronounce you Matt and Sora! (pauses as no one except the two security guards clap) You may now GO TO HELL AND DIE! (pulls out his shot guns and shoots the two security guards, who are so surprised they don't even register that they're dead.)_

_All pandemonium breaks lose at the "wedding" though none of the digidestined are complaining, including Matt and Sora._

_Random Announcer guy: Well, I guess they do weddings different than they did in my day…(pauses as someone hands him a slip of paper) Well, this just in. Apparently Beelzemon doesn't have any power to marry anyone, so no one got married today. Also the source of this information, arandomguy227, would like to make sure everyone knows he doesn't own digimon, at all._

_Ok, so I know that was random, but I hope you enjoyed it! _

_**Last Timeish: **__Well, the digidestined all got reunited, as the "safe" group brought the final tablet from Drill City to Gennai's home. Tai got angry at Matt for keeping the "safe" group in a huge siege, and the two had to be broken up by their respective girls (even though Matt and Mimi aren't really dating, yet). Next up they got the Tablets back to Gennai's house, and thought they could finally relax a little, but somehow Astamon and Doumon had found Gennai's, attacked the DD, and stole the Tablets!_

**Chapter 27 The Race**

_Izzy_

I eagerly placed the third Tablet that had been delivered by Matt next to the other two on the table Gennai had set aside for the Tablets. Gennai stood opposite of me at the table, also looking at the three Tablets as we finally had all of them together in one place.

"So what exactly is the deal with these Tablet things?" I heard Yolei ask from behind me. I turned to see that she and Ken had followed us into Gennai's lab.

"They're a sort of map." Ken replied, gesturing at the three Tablets. "From what we've been able to decipher from the writing on them, each is part of a larger map that will lead us to the Digimental."

"And the Digimental is the thing you think we can use to defeat Piedmon?" Yolei asked, and I'm sure that Ken nodded. "Well, what are we waiting for, let's get this map together and go get ourselves a Digimental!"

I had to look back at that, and Yolei had struck one of her poses, a finger pointing onwards, and I had to sigh. Sometimes Yolei's enthusiasm could get a little out of hand.

"We cannot do that just yet Yolei." Gennai said, and then gestured down to the three Tablets. "First we must figure out how they go together, and then how to actually activate the map."

"Activate the map?" Yolei asked, obviously confused.

"Yes, each Tablet had a hidden message or a hidden map, contained within the crystal at the center of it." I replied, "We first have to fit the pieces together, and then discover the secret message."

"Well, then let's quit standing around and start fitting!" Yolei exclaimed, and stepped forward along with Ken. I knew more than enough than to try and stop Yolei's enthusiasm unless she was about to destroy something. Therefore I just stood back and watched her work on fitting the three together.

"…ok, if we rotate this here, and then flip that…" Yolei was talking to herself more than Ken, but far faster than I'd expected the three Tablets were lined up perfectly.

"That wasn't so hard." Yolei said, smiling back at Ken and me. I stepped forward, amazed at how quickly Yolei had managed to fit it all together. We would have never put the Tablets together like that because the wording on them didn't match up, but the actual Tablets did.

Ken looked over at me, and I nodded to him. He stepped forward and pushed the Tablets together, since Yolei had just arranged them so that the sides matched up. With a snap each piece connected to the other, perfectly.

"Prodigious!" I exclaimed, looking over at Yolei. "You did it Yolei!"

"it wasn't that hard…" Yolei replied, blushing as Gennai offered his own congratulations, and Ken hugged her.

I turned away from the two of them, instead focusing on the three combined Tablets in from of me. Since the writing didn't match up in any way it was obvious that there had to be another way to access the information contained in the Tablet.

_But how? _I asked myself. _We've already shined light through each of the crystals, so that obviously won't do anything new…unless the trick isn't shining it through one crystal, but all of them!_ With that thought I picked the Tablet up and moved it unto the stand we designed to hold the Tablets so we could shine a light through them.

I secured the Tablet, and then moved around behind it to the light we had been using to activate the Crystals. By this time Ken, Yolei, and Gennai were all silently watching me as I did this. As soon as the light was facing the right way I turned it on, and it hit the entirety of the Tablet.

I stepped around the stand holding the Tablet, hoping to see something happening to the Tablet. At first nothing happened, and then in the central, empty, portion of the Tablet a red light appeared, filling the entire space before projecting outwards.

I took a step back as it did so, since it wasn't just simple text that appeared, but an entire life like hologram, at least I assumed it was a hologram.

An image appeared, that of a familiar island.

"Isn't that File Island?" Yolei asked after a second, and I nodded silently. The Image showed the Island, and then seemed to rush forward, heading right for Infinity Mountain, and the structure atop it. It circled around the structure a few times and then flew right into it, through a series of corridors until it reached a doorway.

There was a statue of a digimon, one I'd never seen before, standing before the doorway. He was a tall digimon, with a pair of wings that folded up so that they looked like a cloak on his back. His arms had a pair of gauntlets that reminded me of the one that contained MagnaAngemon's Excalibur sword. He seemed to be covered in some sort of ornate, blue armor, and there was a giant golden V on his chest. The digimon certainly looked impressive enough.

The image held on this statue for several seconds, and then flew past it and into the room behind the digimon. Inside was a raised pedestal, almost identical to the one where we'd found our Crests the second time. On this pedestal was a small stone, shining in the light that shined down upon it.

The image held on this stone for a minute and then winked out.

"Prodigious…" Was all that I could say after that. It was also all I had time to say as a sudden explosion ripped through the room, knocking me right off of my feet.

"What was that?" Yolei asked, just before another explosion ripped through the room. Then one of the walls exploded inwards, sending Ken spinning backwards. I looked up to see Doumon standing there, her brush held in front of her.

"Tentomon!" I called out, and my partner flew forward.

"Super Shocker!" He exclaimed, sending a blast of electricity right at Doumon. The digimon just took the rookie's attack, and was completely unaffected by it.

"Exorcism Scroll." Doumon threw three scrolls into the room, one at Tentomon, and the other two elsewhere. The explosions caused me to dive down for cover as they threw all sorts of shrapnel across the room.

Then, just as fast as it had happened it was all over. I looked up from where I was cowering on the ground, and Doumon wasn't around anywhere anymore. Motimon was groaning from where he'd landed.

"JOE!" Yolei suddenly shrieked from behind me. I turned to see what was going on, and Ken was bleeding fairly profusely from his head. Something caught my eye as I turned to see Ken, and I doubled back to the stand that had held the Tablets. They were gone. Doumon had taken them…

Joe busted in through the door, followed a second later by Tai. Joe went straight to Ken, while Tai walked up to me, obviously wanting to know what had happened.

"Izzy, what happened here?" Tai asked as he looked at me.

"Doumon." Was my one word response. The fact that Piedmon's top agents now had the Tablets was sending shivers right down my spine. Those two had been the most competent lackeys we'd ever encountered. They were for sure on their way to Piedmon as we spoke, and that terrified me. "She took them Tai."

"What?" he asked, obviously not understanding what I meant. "What did she take?"

"The Tablets." I replied, and Tai's eyes widened in shock.

"The Tablets?" He asked, obviously shocked by my statement. I couldn't really blame him either. I simply nodded. "Shit."

~Later~

We all gathered in the kitchen after a few minutes. Apparently Astamon had done a number on the main living room so we weren't able to meet in there.

"So Piedmon has all of the Tablets now." Tai started off, looking around at all of us. I was looking around as well, and to be honest things weren't looking too good for anyone. All of us had been through a lot over the last few weeks, and we'd been so close to victory, only to have it snatched away from us. It was very demoralizing for all of us.

Tai, Matt, Davis, and T.K. were the only ones who didn't seem to have a look of despair on their faces.

"We need to figure out what we're going to do next." Tai said, looking out at all of us once more.

"What else is there to do?" Mimi asked. "Piedmon has the Tablets, and that was our way to stop him."

"Well, that's not entirely true." Tai replied, looking over at me. "The Tablets were a map, not the item we were looking for."

"That's right!" Davis exclaimed, also looking over towards me.

"But we don't have the map anymore, do we?" Sora asked, looking over at me.

"Well, we might have it." I replied. "I think we'd activated the Tablets before Doumon showed up, and it showed us some images."

"Ok then, it seems our maps just changed, to Izzy!" Tai exclaimed, a grin on his face.

"But Tai, we don't even know if the place I saw was the real place." I said. It's not that I didn't want to believe that there was still hope for us, but with all the difficulty we'd had with the individual Tablets I couldn't believe that it would be so easy when we brought them all together.

"Well Izzy do you have another idea?" Tai asked, and I think I recognized the tone he had. It was his stubborn tone. He wasn't going to just let us sit here and do nothing, not when we still had a chance. So I just shook my head, and that grin was back on his face. "Well then, I think we have our next destination! By the way Izzy, where exactly is it that we're going?"

"File Island." I replied, and saw the surprise that was on everyone's faces, especially the other six who had spent months on File with me.

"File Island?" Matt asked, looking over at me, and I nodded. "Are you sure?"

"Matt, I've spent more than enough time on File Island to recognize it easily." I replied, and he nodded.

"Ok, well I guess we better get going then," Tai said, looking around at all of us. "We've got a little bit of a trip ahead of us."

After that we grabbed some supplies, and more importantly food, and then headed out of Gennai's home. Gennai watched us leave, wishing us luck since there was little else that he could do at this point.

Once outside our partners digivolved to take us to the sea. Kabuterimon took Joe, Davis, and me while Birdramon took Mimi, Matt, Tai, and Sora. Aquilamon carried Yolei, Ken, and Cody, while Pegasusmon carried T.K. and Kari.

Once we reached the sea, Joe, Mimi, and Matt all switched over to riding on Ikkakumon, since it was far easier for Ikkakumon to carry three passengers than either Birdramon or Kabuterimon. Cody also switched out to riding in Submarimon.

With each of us riding a digimon we took off, heading for File Island in what had become a race to reach the Digimental.

"So what else did you see in that vision thing the tablet showed you?" Davis asked after we had been flying for a good while.

"Well, apparently it's on the top of Infinity Mountain." I replied, looking back at Davis, who was sitting a little ways back. "Actually, that location rather surprised me."

"Surprised you? How?" Davis asked, leaning forward.

"Well, our first enemy, Devimon, used the structure at the top of Infinity Mountain as his own personal hideout." I replied, voicing my own skepticism. "I don't know how he wouldn't have been able to find this Digimental with all the time he spent up there."

"Maybe it's really well hidden, or only certain people can pick it up, just like the Tablets." Davis replied, leaning back against Kabuterimon.

"Hey! Don't lean against my wing!" Kabuterimon exclaimed, causing Davis to shoot up, and adjust his position so he wasn't bothering Kabuterimon. I actually stifled a laugh.

The rest of the trip was completely uneventful, almost nothing happened, and Davis passed out not long after our few words about why Devimon never found the Digimental. For some reason whenever my mind thought about it, that statue of the digimon I'd never seen before came to mind. I don't know why, but I had the feeling that it was important somehow.

Before long File Island came into view, and I was shocked at the site. The entire Island burned, and what looked like an army was encamped not far from the large city on the Island, File City.

From what I could see the city's walls were breached in multiple locations, and digimon from the army seemed to come and go as they pleased. In addition to that they seemed to be trying to burn the city to the ground, along with the rest of the Island with it.

"Davis." I shook the younger teen, waking him from his slumber.

"Just five more minutes mom…" Davis mumbled, and I shook him harder. He finally sat up after a few seconds, and looked up at me.

"What is it Izzy, are we there?" He asked, and I nodded, gesturing out to the Island below. Davis took one look out at the sight before him, and clenched his fists in rage. He was expressing outwardly the same feelings that I was feeling at the moment. "I'm going to delete every single one of those damn viruses…" Davis said, and I reached out to grab his arm.

"Davis, we can't, not yet." I said, and he looked back at me. "Believe me, I want nothing more than to watch all of their data fly away, but if we don't get to the Digimental first, this is going to happen everywhere, and we won't be able to stop it."

I was hoping logic would stop Davis from doing anything rash (which may have been an illogical thought in itself) but the younger digidestined visibly calmed down, taking several deep breaths.

_Davis_

I took another deep breath, calming down a fraction more, as Izzy kept looking at me. I wanted nothing more than to grab Veemon and drop down in the middle of that army down there and have Magnamon delete every single one of those rampaging digimon.

I could, kinda, understand fighting a war. The war between Virus types and the Data and Vaccine types was as old as the digital world itself, but this was just plain destruction that served no purpose. The viruses were intent on destroying the entire Island, and I didn't want to see that happen.

I finally nodded at Izzy, reassuring him that I wouldn't do something rash like I wanted to. He was right. Getting bogged down in a fight with those digimon down there wouldn't bring us anywhere closer to stopping Piedmon.

Kabuterimon flew around the Island, since we couldn't have Ikkakumon and Submarimon land right in the middle of a war zone. Eventually we found some clear coast, and the two digimon made land, quickly dedigivolving so that they would be able to fit on the flyers, who would be carrying us up Infinity Mountain.

It seemed that we had won the race easily, since nothing tried to stop us, not the army below us, or anything else. No Doumon, no Astamon, and no Piedmon.

"Well, looks like this should be easy." I say, looking forward to where the structure on top of the Mountain was coming into sight. It reminded me of some of the pictures that were in our history books about ancient Rome. The building looked like it could have come straight from that time.

"Hellfire!" I looked down to see several flashed below us in rapid fire succession. The Kabuterimon was diving to the side to avoid the attack.

_I had to open my big mouth…_ I think to myself as I hold onto Kabuterimon for dear life.

"So much for EASY!" Izzy shouted back at me, and I just grinned at him. Sure right now probably wasn't the best time to be smiling about anything, but two things were causing my smile. First off, there wasn't any point in frowning, since frowning at an opponent wouldn't stop him from blasting you, but laughing might confuse him. Second, and much more importantly, Izzy didn't know what I was about to do.

"VEEMON!" I shouted, looking over to my partner, who looked back. I really hoped he understood what I was about to do, and the head nod from him was all I needed to be sure he did.

I let go of Kabuterimon, flying right behind the large bug monster, much to Izzy's surprise.

"DAVIS!" He shouted after me, before Kabuterimon dodged again, and he had to hold on for dear life again. I saw a blue streak not too far in front of me, and I held out my digivice.

"GOLDEN ARMOR ENERGIZE!" I shouted, causing a blast of golden light to shoot out and hit Veemon, and a second later I felt something catch me. I looked back to see Magnamon hovering there, lowering us to the ground.

I'd wanted to try that since I saw Tai do it against Machinedramon's forces, and it was totally awesome. Magnamon hit the ground on the top of Infinity Mountain, which was actually quite large. There was a ton of space between us and the edge of the cliff. Not too far behind us was the structure we'd come here to explore.

Standing near the edge was Astamon, who was still firing his gun into the air at the other digidestined.

"Ok Magnamon, he's all yours!" I exclaim, pointing a finger right at Astamon. Magnamon nods, and dashes forward, heading right for the gun toting digimon, but he didn't get far.

I should have expected it, but Astamon wasn't up here by himself. Doumon appeared, wielding her paint brush to knock Magnamon back away from Astamon.

"I don't think so." Doumon said, keeping her paint brush pointed at Magnamon. Magnamon held his own hands up in a fighting stance, ready to take care of the weird colorless digimon. Then there was a crash behind Doumon, causing me, and both digimon to look past her.

Something had hit Astamon, and caused a large amount of dust to be kicked up into the air, blocking him from view for a second. When he reappeared, WarGreymon was doing his best to skewer him with his Dramon Destroyers.

"Ice Wolf Claw!" Magnamon turned behind him, and then jumped away from Doumon as dozens of missiles hit all around where they'd been standing, announcing the arrival of MetalGarurumon.

He landed next to me, revealing the fact that he was carrying both Matt and Tai, just as WarGreymon and Magnamon did as well. Doumon and Astamon were recovering themselves, opposite of us, both of them looking to be slightly less than one hundred percent.

Behind us all the other digidestined landed, their partners returning to their rookie forms. Tai turned to them as Matt and I kept watching with the digimon.

"You guys head in and find the Digimental. We'll hold these two off." Tai told them, looking at all of them.

"But…" Someone started to say, but Tai cut them off.

"No buts, go find that Digimental before Piedmon shows up." Tai said, and I could tell that was an order rather than a request, maybe the first time he had really ordered any digidestined, at all. I glanced back and watched the others make a break for the building. Then I turned back to Doumon and Astamon.

"What, you're not keeping your friends around to help you out?" Astamon asked, looking at the three of us. "Bad decision."

"We don't need their help to take you freaks out." Matt said, taking a step forward. "Get him MetalGarurumon!"

MetalGarurumon jumped forward, followed a second later by Magnamon and WarGreymon. Astamon and Doumon held still for a second and then dodged out of the way, sending their attacks to where they'd been standing.

"Hellfire!"

"Exorcism Scrolls!"

The attacks hit as our partners landed where they had been standing, mean they took the full force of the attack.

"To easy." Doumon declared, turning to look at us.

"Magna Blast!" A wave of plasma hit Doumon as she was about to step towards us, sending her flipping end over end until she crashed into the ground. The smoke cleared, revealing our partners, who had been shielded by WarGreymon. MetalGarurumon jumped out after Astamon, while WarGreymon dropped to a knee, obviously weakened from taking both of those attacks.

"Magna Punch!" I tuned back to my own partner as he landed next to Doumon and sent her flying with a punch, this time straight up into the air. He then flew up after her, intending to send her flying right back down into the ground, but she recovered in the air.

She swung her brush around to hit Magnamon as he attempted to send her flying to the ground, causing my partner to be send higher into the air.

"Demonic Gate!" Doumon shouted, drawing in the air with her paint brush. She drew right beneath Magnamon, who started to fall towards it, as the Gate opened, and started to suck up everything around it, including him.

"Terra Force!" A giant ball of orange energy hits the back of the gate, causing it to break apart. I look down to see WarGreymon struggling to keep on his feet, from where he'd just launched his attack. Magnamon was freed from the grips of the Demonic Gate, he turned and flew right at Doumon, who was surprised by his attack.

Once more Doumon was sent flying, crashing into the ground, followed seconds later by her partner. Both of them landed, pretty much back to back.

"All together now!" Tai shouted out to our partners, and they all started their attacks.

Magnamon glowed with power as lightning flashed between his arms. "Magna Blast!" A wave front of plasma shot out from him right at the two digimon.

MetalGarurumon jumped up into the air, his mouth filling with blue energy as he prepared to attack. "Metal Wolf Claw!" He sent a cold blast of energy right at the two motionless digimon.

WarGreymon opened his arms up as wide as they would go, energy swirling into them and forming a massive ball of orange energy. "Terra Force!" WarGreymon threw the giant ball right at Doumon and Astamon.

All three attacks hit at the same moment, causing a massive explosion that caused me to cover my eyes. When it finally cleared the only thing left was a giant crater, and a few hovering bits of data.

"Take that you digipunks!" I shouted, jumping into the air as the two freaks were now, finally, gone.

My celebration was cut short however, as someone started clapping, from behind where Doumon and Astamon had been destroyed. I strained to see what was causing the noise, and I felt a chill run through my body as I got a look at what it was.

Piedmon was standing behind the crater, clapping his hands at the three of us and our partners.

"What a wonderful show!" Piedmon called out as it became evident that we'd seen him. "I didn't think the three of you would ever beat them. But I have to ask, did you have to destroy them? Good help is so hard to find these days."

I clenched a fist as Piedmon laughed, mocking us as he stood there. His laugh suddenly stopped, and he seemed to be serious for once.

"Now, for the reason I'm here." Piedmon said, stepping towards us. "Hand over the Digimental, and I won't destroy you, today."

"He knows why we're here…" Matt said quietly enough that Piedmon couldn't hear.

"Well, we expected that." I replied, since we had. Maybe we hadn't expected Piedmon himself to come here, but we knew that he had to know about the Digimental somehow.

"Oh come now children. Stop whispering and hand it over." Piedmon said, reaching behind him for a pair of his swords. "I'm not in the mood for games today."

"Yea, well neither are we!" WarGreymon exclaimed, and then our three partners dashed forward, heading right for Piedmon.

"Mega Claw!"

"Magna Punch!"

Magnamon and WarGreymon attempted to hit Piedmon, but the clown literally disappeared as they attacked him, causing the two to over extend themselves and land face first in the ground. Piedmon reappeared in the air behind MetalGarurumon, and sent the metal wolf flying into the other two digimon.

"Final Spell!" Piedmon called out, sending a powerful blast of energy right into the three digimon.

"Magnamon!" I called out as the blast hit. Matt and Tai were also calling out for their partners.

"I told you I wasn't in the mood for games." Piedmon said, landing not too far from us, and walking right at us. "Now hand over the Digimental before I kill each of you, slowly."

~Chapter End~

_Well, it seemed that losing the Tablets wasn't that bad, except for the fact that Piedmon showed up where the Digimental was store. Now, who actually expected the Digimental to be on File Island? Anyone? Well, until next week!_

_**Review Replies:**_

_Matani: You really thought the Siege of Drill City was boring? I thought it was rather good myself, even if a good portion of it was talking. Anyways, yea, Tablet nabbing would be unexpected, which is what I was going for. Things would be to easy otherwise. And I'm glad you enjoyed that._

_LyraXEthan: And no, I've actually never watched that show. It seemed like a pretty good, slightly sarcastic chapter name, and I love sarcasm lol._

_Bekronthegreat: Thanks! If you like Cliffhangers the rest of the story is just perfect for you! And who needs to break the spell when you can just destroy the caster?_

_Ezio Uchiha: Thanks! and exactly! It was sensible anger, even if the situation was really out of Matt's control, meaning they were both right and wrong, at the same time! Lol And yea, I figured most people would like that. And their overconfidence stemmed more from the secretness of Gennai's home. They didn't think they knew where the house was._

_TogetherAgain: Exactly, at least until we find out Izzy already had everything they needed, hopefully. And thanks!_

_TaioraWarrior: well, Saturday is kinda like Wednesday, only different lol. And yea, they don't want to piss them off. Plus, they're scary when they're angry. And yea, hopefully you see here that your plan wouldn't have worked very well at all, since Piedmon trashed all of them in like three seconds flat. And yea, I saw that, it was pretty good. Also, I know exactly how you feel about NOCRY, the same thing happened with DW's last chapter. If there's anything I can do to help (like bouncing ideas off me or something) feel free to PM._

_The other Guy: Hey, unless detained by the government, or suffering severe writers block I always update on time! So don't complain to me about it, especially during finals season! And sleeping time is always an excuse, just fyi. Exactly! And you can meet Pete when you stop complaining about updating schedules (at least mine, I don't care about the others). And I think I've beaten your review powers hatred out of you, not that you have your –inators. And the digital world only has one set of clothes for person! They don't like variety out there! And yes, very ridiculous. And yep, that's an advantage of no made up digimon, not having to worry about descriptions._

_Supershooter: exactly! All that hard work for nothing! Until this chapter at least lol. And no, no renegades this time._

_DephsXylex: I'm glad, because I'm really excited for the sequel as well, cause it's going to be crazy awesome lol. I guess. I just do things how they seem to make sense, or fit them into making sense if I need them for my story. It's something I enjoy doing (making things fit that is). Yea, you're going to have to wait on that. And I know exactly hwat you're talking about, (I'm a HUGE scifi nut, so I know all about BSG.) And I wouldn't say exactly the same, since the digimon go back to babies, and don't have their memories. And yea, nothing is more scary than a super angry woman, I know that for a fact._

_The other Guy: FACT: I am once more tempted to not give you a review reply, period. SO STOP USING FACTS OR I'LL GO THROUGH WITH IT NEXT TIME!_

_Now your actual reply. Super review reply powers, activate! How did you like this disclaimer, it was a few notches above totally insane I think. And that would be because people always complain when I slow down the pace. I mean seriously, if I get to descriptive at the cost of slowing the story down I get like six review complaints. It's annoying. Plus that would be a lot more writing to do. Maybe next story. (or this chapter, since I gave you half of what you wanted.) And when the digital world got reformatted (after the first season) the armies were all freshies! So they couldn't fight, yet. And maybe. He might be alive, he might be dead. And I think he's always had difficulties with hard decisions, he just makes it look easy, since you don't exactly see inside his head all the time. And of course! Davis looks up to Tai as a mentor, so he always expects him to help/side with him, even though he forgets about Tai's evil side. And she didn't, but I think she would, with Tai, which means also with Davis since he's basically Tai jr. Tai's pissed at the fact that they came from Drill City, which Gennai had told him was in the middle of a MASSIVE FREAKING BATTLE WITH PEOPLE DYING EVERYWHERE! Not someplace you want your little sister and everyone else you sent off to be safe to be. And well, things were moving too fast for Davis to do anything else, so don't complain. And no, they aren't past that stage. I mean, they fight less, but they still fight. They are two very different people, so they're bound to fight. And no, they're a map. And I'm glad you liked my BAM. It was pretty BAMTASTIC. And exactly!_

_TheOmegaMan: A dead one now! She got what was coming to her. And exactly! Not that he really needs any more strength. And yea, I thought it was good myself. I agree completely, especially if my little sister was in that group. I'd have flipped on my best friend, and we don't fight that often at all. Thanks! Me to! And sounds good! You'll have to let me know how different it is reading it straight through._


	28. Endgame Part 1

_Well, the new chapter for this is finally out! I'm sure everyone's more than annoyed that it took me this long to get around to this chapter, especially since it's right at the climax, so sorry. Anyways, I'm going to stop talking and get on with the chapter._

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own digimon. Seriously, I've said that every chapter for 28 chapters now, figure it out!  
_

_**Last Time:**__ The Digidestined finally got all three of the Tablets, and thanks to some help from Yolei, Izzy was able to figure out the location of the Digimental. Unfortunately as this happened Doumon and Astamon arrived at Gennai's and stole the Tablets. After that the Digidestined raced to beat Doumon and Astamon to the Digimental, and almost beat them there. Both groups arrived at nearly the same time, and Tai, Davis, and Matt stayed behind to hold off Doumon and Astamon while the others searched for the Digimental. The three managed to destroy the two troublesome digimon, but just as they were celebrating Piedmon showed up, after the Digimental as well._

* * *

**Chapter 28 Endgame (Part 1)**

_Kari_

I held onto T.K.'s back as Pegasusmon flew to the side, avoiding the barrage of bullets sent into the air by Astamon.

"We need to land Pegasusmon!" T.K. told his partner as he dodged another blast from the ground. I could only hold onto T.K. and Gatomon and hope nothing bad happened to us. The two of us were useless until we landed and Gatomon could digivolve.

"Everyone, land behind Davis!" I heard one of the others shout, I think it was either Matt or my brother. I looked over to see the two of them standing on Birdramon's back, just before they jumped. I nearly screamed, but then I noticed their partners glowing, and growing larger. Seconds later MetalGarurumon had caught the two of them, and they headed for the ground.

Seconds later Pegasusmon also headed for the ground, bringing me, Gatomon, and T.K. with him. We landed behind Tai, Davis, and Matt and their partners, who were all facing towards Astamon and his sidekick, Doumon.

"You guys head in and find the Digimental. We'll hold these two off." Tai told us, looking at us over his shoulder.

"But…" Sora started to say, stepping forward.

"No buts, go find that Digimental before Piedmon shows up." Tai said, causing Sora to take a step back. Tai didn't usually order us around, but I could see how serious he was about this. All of us turned, and started running for the large building at the summit of the mountain.

I'd heard stories about how that building was where the Digidestined's first enemy, Devimon, had resided, but I'd never been here myself. The building didn't seem all that creepy, but I guess having a fallen angel residing there could make it as creepy as the others had made it sound.

The nine of us made it up the stairs in a hurry, and I glanced back briefly. WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon, and Magnamon were all fighting Astamon and Doumon, while my brother, Matt, and Davis were cheering them on from just behind.

"Come on Kari." I look up as Sora grabs my arm and drags me into the building. The others hadn't slowed down for a second. "Those three will be alright, trust me."

I certainly hope Sora is right. We haven't been able to defeat Doumon or Astamon any of the other times we've fought them, and even though Tai, Matt, and Davis have the highest level partners, I can't help but be concerned for them. I know there isn't really anything I can do at this point, so I let Sora pull me into the building, where I stop once more, this time at sheer awe of the building.

We were in a large hall, lit by the flames of dozens of torches that lined the walls, and the room was anything but old and run down, which is what I had been expecting. The walls were lined with ornate columns, each of them depicting some moment from what I assume was digital history. The floor looked like it was made out of pure white marble, and stretched into the distance.

Even after Drill City I'd never expected to find something quite like this in the digital world, and more was to come. T.K. kept all of us moving forward after several seconds of gawking around, and the next room was even more impressive.

The room itself was massive, with a domed ceiling that arched up into the air several stories. The room was easily big enough to hold both MetalGreymon and MegaKabuterimon, with room to spare. Lining all of the walls were lined with even more of the ornate columns, and a number of doors that led off into the building.

"Prodigious…" Izzy said aloud after we all gawked around for several seconds.

"This place is amazing!" Mimi exclaimed looking around. "Who knew Devimon had such good tastes?"

That caused all of us to look over at Mimi, who looked back at all of us.

"What?" She asked. "This was his hideout wasn't it?"

"It was Mimi, but I don't think he built it," Sora replied, looking around at the room once more.

"Yea, this isn't really Devimon's style." Izzy replied. "It's not…run down enough."

"Or dark enough." Joe added, looking around. "You guys remember that mansion? It was run down and really creepy when the illusion went away."

"Yea, and he wouldn't have used the color white, in anything." Mimi added, looking around at the room, which was in fact mostly white. "Everything would be black, and really creepy."

I nodded in understanding. While I'd never met Devimon, I'd had a run in with LadyDevimon, who was also apparently obsessed with the color black, so I could understand what they meant.

"Izzy, do you know where to go from here?" Ken asked, interrupting the older Digidestined's argument. I noticed that it was only the older ones who participated. Cody, Ken, Yolei, and I hadn't been here the first time, but T.K. had, so why wasn't he participating?

At that moment my eyes passed over Patamon, and I remembered exactly how Devimon had been defeated, and who'd had to sacrifice himself to do it, and T.K.'s silence was no longer a mystery.

After that observation I looked over to Izzy, who had his eyes closed, and looked like he was trying his hardest to remember something. After a few moments he opened his eyes and looked around the room.

"I think it's that one." Izzy said after a few moments of looking around, pointing at one of the doorways. That's all we needed to head for the door, and into the corridor beyond it.

This corridor was completely from the entrance hall, and the room we were just in. The walls were a rough, grey stone, and the few torches didn't illuminate that much. All in all, the corridor seemed much darker and more foreboding than the other parts of the building seemed like.

"Oh, this is more like it!" Mimi exclaimed as we all paused at the doorway. I don't think any of us were really that scared (I was a little scared, but I'd been more scared at other points in my life and been fine), but we'd had more than enough experience with the digital world to be careful with something like this.

"Mimi, you actually sound excited that this hallway is what you'd expect in Devimon's hideout." Joe remarked as we stood there.

"Well, maybe not excited," Mimi said, looking down the corridor with the rest of us. "But it does seem more like this is Devimon's hideout in here."

"I'm still not sure that's a good thing." Yolei said, holding onto Ken's arm as we all stood there. "Are you sure this is the right one Izzy?"

"Yea, this is definitely it." Izzy replied, which seemed to settle thing for T.K., who started forward.

"Well, let's get moving. Matt, Tai, and Davis are counting on us." T.K. said over his shoulder as he started forward. Everyone was frozen for a second, so I stepped up after him. After all, what kind of girlfriend and friend would I be if I just let him go off on his own?

The others followed shortly after, catching up quickly as we all walked along the corridor.

The place wasn't really that creepy, once you got used to it. It was probably just the effect of coming out of the entrance's splendor into this un-remarkableness that made it seem more foreboding than it really was. Well, that and the fact that it was Devimon's hideout, and he had a special place of horror in our minds, especially for the original seven Digidestined.

We followed the tunnel a short distance before it split into two paths, leading in opposite directions. A few seconds of thinking on the part of Izzy later, and we were headed down the right hand passage, hopefully getting closer to the Digimental. Several more path choices later, and we were in an especially long corridor.

Most of the other corridors had been relatively short, leading to another intersection in just a few dozen feet, while this one stretched out a good long distance. Hopefully this meant we were getting closer.

"I think I see something up ahead!" Sora exclaimed seconds after I thought that, and everyone strained their eyes to see up ahead. It looked like there was more light coming from up ahead of us, so all of us increased our speed, practically breaking out into a run in our excitement. We ran right out of the corridor and into another large room.

At first I thought that we'd just gone in a circle, and ended up back in the large room with all the doors, but then I got a good look at the room. It was large, but nowhere near as large as the entry room. The white marble was back, but in the center of the room was a large statue of a digimon I'd never seen before. Finally there was only one large door on the far side of the room from us, instead of the dozens that had been in the first room.

"This is it!" Izzy exclaimed as we all took in the room. "This is the room that I saw in the Tablet vision!"

"Are you sure Izzy?" Ken asked, as all of us looked over at the red haired genius.

"Yes, I'm certain." Izzy replied, before gesturing to the statue. "That statue was even there!"

That of course sends my attention (and everyone else's I'm sure) to the statue in question. The statue depicted a tall digimon, with a pair of wings that folded up so that they looked like a cloak on his back. He seemed to be covered in some sort of ornate, blue armor, and there was a giant golden V on his chest. His arms had a pair of wrist bands of some sort over the gauntlets that covered his hands.

"What digimon is that?" Cody asked, breaking into the moment of silence. I thought that was a perfectly good question myself, so we all turned to Izzy.

"I think I know!" Tentomon suddenly exclaimed as Izzy looked quite stumped. We all turned our attention to the flying digimon. "I think it's an UlforceVeedramon!"

"Oh, I think your right!" Patamon suddenly exclaimed from T.K.'s head. "I remember hearing about one, and that statue looks just like him!"

"What exactly is an UlforceVeedramon?" Ken asked, looking between the two digimon.

"He's a powerful, exalted knight digimon, who only appears in the times of greatest need. He fights with an energy saber that extends from his wrist, and cuts through his opponents with ease!" Patamon exclaimed, nearly shouting that out. All of us were a little surprised, since Patamon wasn't usually the digimon who knew a lot about the other digimon. That was usually Tentomon, or Gatomon.

"Wow Patamon, where did…" Tentomon started to ask, only to be cut off as the entire building shook around us, knocking most of us (including me) to the ground. Sora and Ken were the only ones still on their feet when the shaking finally stopped.

"What was that?" Yolei asked as we all got to our feet.

"If I had to guess, I'd say it was Doumon and Astamon." Ken replied, helping Yolei to her feet.

"We need to hurry and get the Digimental, now." Sora said, and all of us nodded.

"This way!" Izzy exclaimed, before heading for the large door I'd noticed earlier. "It's behind this door."

"Great!" Yolei exclaimed, looking right at the door. "Let's get it open!"

"Hold on!" I exclaim, stopping Yolei from charging the door.

"What is it Kari?" She asked, looking back at me.

"Well, what if we have to do something to open the door?" I asked, looking around. "I mean, this wasn't that hard to find, so why hasn't the Digimental been taken before?"

"Kari has a good point." Izzy replied, looking towards the door, which seemed to have some writing inscribed around it. He pulled out his laptop, and quickly started typing away while Ken looked over his shoulder.

I expected this to take a good deal of time, but in fact Izzy closed the lid on his laptop after just a couple of seconds.

"It can't be that simple." He said, looking at Ken.

"It's not really that simple Izzy." Ken replied, looking back.

"Really, how is that not simple?"

"Well, it would stop any evil digimon right in its tracks. And a good deal of people with good intents as well."

"Yea, but it's still pretty simple, even though it's effective." Izzy replied, and this time instead of Ken answering him, Yolei broke into the conversation.

"Hi, as much fun as it is for you two to have a conversation that none of us understand, we do have a bit of a time limit here!" She exclaimed, snapping both Izzy and Ken out of their own little world. "Now tell us what is so damn simple!"

"The door." Izzy replied, pointing towards it. "The inscription says that only someone with a pure intent to save the digital world can open the door and use the Digimental."

"That sounds pretty simple to me." Joe muttered, before yelping as Mimi hit him.

"Ok, so what are we waiting for?" Sora asked, looking over at Ken and Izzy. The two of them shrugged, and then all of us turned to the door. T.K. took the initiative right off the bat, stepping forwards and pushing the door. At first nothing happened, and then the door opened noiselessly.

T.K. stepped forward, and I followed him into the room. Inside was downright barren compared to the area outside. The same material that made up the corridors we had travelled made up this small circular room. At the center of the room was a small pedestal, with a stone sitting on the center of it. Silently the others filed in around us, until we were all standing around the stone, which had to be the Digimental.

"So what do we do now?" I asked, looking around. T.K. answered that, by raising his digivice to the stone. The screen started to glow, as did the stone on the table. Each of us followed suit, and soon the entire room was covered in an almost blinding light.

"Gatomon warp digivolve to!"

_Matt_

"Clown Trick!"

I ducked down as the blast of energy flew over my head, instead hitting a large boulder and vaporizing said boulder.

"You know Tai, I don't think that was the right thing to say." I say to the person who had ducked down on my left. "You seemed to have pissed him off a little."

My big haired best friend just shrugged, grinning.

"Well, what would have said Matt?" He replied, before him and I, along with Davis, ducked down as Piedmon sent another blast at us.

"Probably something a little less insulting." I replied, before the three of us jumped out from where we were hiding. Seconds later the boulder exploded from Piedmon's attack, and the clown was revealed, walking towards us. "I mean, antagonizing the super powerful mega digimon really doesn't seem like a good idea in hindsight."

"Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time." Tai replied, and then shouted. "SCATTER!"

Davis and I split off to the left and right, while Tai sprinted ahead. Things were not going so well for us at the moment. Things hadn't started off that way. We'd managed to destroy both Astamon and Doumon, something we'd been trying to do for the months we'd been in the digital world. Then, just as things seemed to have started to turn in our favor, Piedmon showed up.

He dismantled our partners in three seconds flat, and then demanded the Digimental, the thing we'd come out here to find, and the one thing that could possible allow us to stop Piedmon. At that point Tai had decided to insult the clown, resulting in him going somewhat berserk on us. I guess this Digimental thing had him running a little scared.

"I'd stop running Digidestined. You're only delaying the end of the story." Piedmon said, just before sending another blast chasing after Tai. "I might even make the ending a less disfiguring one for you. Just give me the Digimental!"

At this point I turned, attempting to check on where the clown currently was, and saw that he'd cornered Tai. The clown had a ridiculous smile on his face as he slowly drew one of the swords from his back.

"I've been waiting to do this for a long time." Piedmon said, just before a yellow blur crashed into him, sending Piedmon flying across the battle ground.

I was completely surprised to see WarGreymon standing there, panting, where Piedmon had been. I don't think I'd ever seen Tai's partner look quite so beat up, even the last time he fought Piedmon during our first adventure or during the battle with Diaboromon.

"Matt!" I turned as a familiar voice called my name. MetalGarurumon limped forward, looking about as bad as WarGreymon did. Behind him I could see a beat up Magnamon getting to Davis.

"MetalGarurumon!" I said, stepping up to my partner. I was beyond relived that he was still alive, since I'd been fearing the worst earlier. Still, he looked like he was right on the edge of collapsing right there in front of me.

"We're not finished with you clown." My partner growled at Piedmon, before jumping into the air and heading towards Piedmon. "Ice Wolf Claw!"

Dozens of missiles sped towards where Piedmon had crashed after WarGreymon tackled him, but exploded in midair before hitting Piedmon. As the smoke from the explosion cleared I could the clown standing, his hands held up in the air. His usual grin was gone from his face, replaced with a grimace that couldn't be good.

"Trump Swords!" Piedmon threw all four of his swords right at MetalGarurumon, who didn't have enough time to avoid the weapons. They hit him, and seconds later he crashed into the ground, not even managing to stay on his feet.

"MetalGarurumon!" I shouted, running forward towards my partner. Piedmon however beat me to him, pulling out two of the swords which had returned to him after his attack.

"Magna Blast!" Before he had the chance to plunge them into my partner, Magnamon hit him with a blast of energy, which sent him flying once more.

"Terra Force!" I looked up to see WarGreymon throw a massive sphere of orange energy right at Piedmon, who didn't have the time to avoid or stop the attack.

"Everyone together now!" Davis shouted, suddenly appearing at my side.

"It's the only way we'll beat him!" Tai added, appearing at my other side, a grin on his face, most likely resulting from the look on my face. "What Matt, did you think we'd let you run out here all by yourself?"

"Something like that." I replied, looking over to my partner, who was struggling onto his feet. "Are you ok MetalGarurumon?"

"It's going to take more than a few toy swords to keep me down." He replied, but I could tell the words were forced. "Let's get the clown." He turned to WarGreymon and Magnamon when he said that, and both digimon nodded.

"Alright, go kick that clown's ass!" Davis cheered, and all three digimon jumped forward, powering up their attacks.

"Terra Force!" WarGreymon sent another giant sphere of energy towards where the last had landed.

"Magna Blast!" Magnamon had lightning run between his arms, before unleashing a blast of energy right after WarGreymon's Terra Force.

"Metal Wolf Claw!" My partner sent a blast of icy blue energy along with the other attacks, and all three hit at about the same moment, creating a massive blast.

"Alright! We got him!" Davis yelled out as the explosion washed over us. I was too busy trying to stay on my feet to worry about cheering. Anyways, it couldn't have been that easy. It never was.

"Not so much." A voice, which belonged to Piedmon, replied to Davis's statement, and seconds later I could see the clown walking towards us. I freakin hate it when I'm write about this stuff. "My turn." Piedmon raised his hands to point at Magnamon.

"Clown Trick!" I couldn't even see the blast, but Magnamon was soon falling out of the sky, a massive explosion appearing where he'd been hovering.

"Magnamon!" Davis exclaimed, but my attention was soon drawn away from Davis and his partner as Piedmon turned towards MetalGarurumon, who'd landed between us and the clown. I could see Piedmon smiling like a maniac on the other side of MetalGarurumon, raising his hands once more.

"Good, I'll take all of you out at once!" He shouted, his hands coming up. "Clown Trick!"

"NO!" I shouted, knowing my partner couldn't possibly take another good hit in the state he was currently in, but other than shout there was nothing could do. I was completely useless after helping him digivolve for anything other than cheering, and that wouldn't help.

I shielded my face as the area in front of us exploded from Piedmon's attack, hoping that MetalGarurumon still alive when the smoke cleared. The smoke soon cleared, and I was surprised to see that MetalGarurumon was still standing, though I soon realized why.

WarGreymon was standing between him and Piedmon, his chipped and cracked Brave Shield held out in front of him, protecting all of us.

"WarGreymon! Hold on buddy!" Tai shouted out, having to feel the same uselessness that I'd been feeling just a second before, and was feeling now.

"You got it Tai…" The digimon replied, his voice sounding strained. I could see that the battle and that last attack had taken a lot out of him, as his legs were shaking, just from the effort of standing.

"Oh, don't worry, you won't have to be around for long." Piedmon said as the smoke finally revealed him standing there, his hands still raised. "I'm going to end all of you now. Final Spell!"

A charge of energy built up in the clown's hands, and then flew right at all of us.

I had to shield my eyes once more, but I couldn't turn away from it, even if I'd wanted to. WarGreymon's Brave Shield literally disintegrated in his hands, before he was sent flying backwards into MetalGarurumon, and both of them flew back at the three of us. They crashed just in front of us, and I was thrown off of my feet, landing on my back a few dozen feet back.

I think I'd messed something up, because a sharp pain was coming from my left arm, and some warm liquid was running down my leg slowly.

I managed to look up as Piedmon walked towards us, his face covered in a scowl.

"You Digidestined need to learn that it's time for you to die!" He exclaimed, heading for WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon, both of whom had managed to stay in their mega forms. Tai was closer to them than I was, and he was trying to reach them, his hands outstretched as he crawled forward.

"Oh don't worry Digidestined." Piedmon said as he stopped next to our partners, looking over at Tai. "I'll be killing you next." He drew one of his swords, holding it over WarGreymon's chest, and I knew he was about to plunge it into his chest, killing my best friend's partner. I finally squeezed my eyes closed, unable to watch this.

"Seven Heavens!" A very bright light, like the sun shining on my closed eyes, suddenly appeared, followed by a surprised and slightly pained yelp. At that point I opened my eyes, and was quite surprised to see that WarGreymon was still alive on the ground, and Piedmon was about a hundred feet away, and smoking.

The next thing I noticed was a blue and silver armored digimon slowly floating down to the ground. His hands were outstretched, which had to mean that he was the one who'd attacked Piedmon.

"Seraphimon?" Davis asked, struggling to his feet. The digimon turned his head towards us as Davis said that.

"Davis, you know that digimon?" I asked, looking over towards the younger Digidestined.

"Yea, he's Patamon's Mega form." Davis replied, looking up to the angel like digimon.

"Patamon's?" I asked, looking up as well. He certainly looked like an armored angel, and all of Patamon's other forms had been angel like digimon.

"Clown Trick!" I looked past Seraphimon to see Piedmon holding his hands out, pointing right at Seraphimon.

"Eden's Javelin!" A beam of light cut between Piedmon and Seraphimon, apparently stopping the attack before it hit Seraphimon.

"MATT!" I turned as several people shouted my name, and others called out Tai and Davis's. T.K., Mimi, and the others were all running towards us, along with a bunch of digimon I'd never seen before, most of whom were quite large.

At the front of the group was another angel like digimon, who was obviously female, in a lighter blue armor than Seraphimon. She carried a shield, and a spear, which was currently pointed at the space between Piedmon and Seraphimon.

Seraphimon turned to the other angelic digimon.

"My thanks, Ophanimon." Seraphimon said, nodding as he did.

"Of course Seraphimon." The female angel, Ophanimon apparently, replied.

_She must be Gatomon's mega form. That's the only thing that makes sense._ I thought to myself as the others got to us. The other digimon spread out behind them, and I realized that they must be the other's mega levels

T.K. helped me to my feet, and I was forced to lean pretty heavily on my younger brother. I hated to, but I needed to. I could hardly feel my leg, and my arm was probably broken.

"Took you guys long enough," Davis said, as Ken helped him to his feet. "But we had him right where we wanted him."

"Right Davis." Ken said, shaking his head as Seraphimon walked over to WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. He held his hands out over mine and Tai's partners, and then they started to glow. Both of our partners were covered in light. When the light disappeared both of them were standing there, fully healed.

"My thanks Seraphimon." My partner said, as WarGreymon nodded his own thanks.

"So I take it this means you guys found the Digimental?" Tai asked as he limped forward between Kari and Sora. He looked even worse than I felt at the moment, and right after he'd already been injured.

"Yea." T.K. replied, reaching into his pocket, pulling out a small red stone out of his pocket. It was rough, and seemed to glow from its core.

"Give that here Digidestined!" Piedmon's voice suddenly interrupted our conversation, and I turned from the stone to see the clown dashing at us.

Two of the digimon standing behind the others jumped forward as Piedmon dashed forward.

"Crimson Flame!" The gold and red bird like digimon shouted out, before flames flew out in a torrent from its wings.

"Mega Electro Shocker!" The giant gold insect like digimon charged up a massive blue sphere of electric energy, before releasing it right at Piedmon.

The two attacks hit around the clown, causing a large explosion, and sending the clown flying backwards.

"Alright Phonixmon!" Sora called out, cheering the large bird like digimon.

"Way to go HerculesKabuterimon!" Izzy exclaimed as well, obviously cheering for the large bug like digimon.

"Ken!" A voice called out, getting all of our attention to three of the other new digimon. I hadn't noticed the three of them leaving, but they were running towards us, with the large black, humanoid bug like digimon carrying Magnamon in his arms.

"Good work GrandisKuwagamon." Ken said as the three came running up to us. "You, Valkyrimon, and Vikemon did a good job finding him."

The three digimon stopped, and GrandisKuwagamon stepped forward, putting Magnamon down in front of Seraphimon. A few seconds later and Magnamon was standing again, fully healed. I looked around at that point, and all twelve digimon were ready to go at this point.

_We can actually do this. We've got the power to stop him now._ I thought as all of them lined up facing Piedmon, ready to go into battle.

"Alright, let's finish this clown off once and for all." Tai declared, looking forward with the rest of us. Our partners roared or shouted, and then charged forward.

"Oh I wouldn't assume that I'm finished yet, Digidestined." Piedmon replied with a smile, and charged to meet our partners.

~Chapter End~

* * *

_Is Piedmon finished? Will 12 digimon with the power of Mega's be able to finally stop them? Find out next week! (Hopefully!)_

_Ok, so the big thing that I'm sure to hear is the fact that Gatomon digivolved into Ophanimon. I only have one thing to say, and that's get over it. I thought that it was stupid that Gatomon digivolved into Magnadramon in the first place in the movie, and this is my chance to fix it. Hopefully most of you agree with me._

_Well, other than that, until next week!_

_**Review Replies:**_

_Ezio Uchiha : No problem, always happy to help! Yea, how did you like them going through Devimon's hideout? And I did that a little bit, though not really hesitancy so much. And yea, if things were easy, then it wouldn't be that awesome of a story. And yea, I'd been building towards that disclaimer for a while now…just waiting to put it in there._

_TaioraWarrior : There is no such thing as overboard, especially when it comes to killing Toei goons who would make Sorato happen. Yea, I thought it was a good though myself, and of course the freakin clown would show up and ruin things good and thoroughly. And BEST QUOTE EVER? *loses all humility at statement*__ and, I think you really do need to work on that butt kicking, like seriously. And this is me, the guy who took like 3 months to update talking._

_Bekronthegreat: Yea, no Omnimon, and no more Imperialdramon, sadly. I have other digimon I like a bit more that I want to use. And well, right now it looks like they're going to see if Piedmon can take on 12 megas at once, though if that works, who knows._

_Matani: Yea, though that might also have been the idea of a digimon city. And I'm glad you did like it. I try to have a little something everyone likes in my story. And thanks a bunch!_

_The other Guy: So, since you can't be bothered with a review at this point, I'm not going to reply. Good day to you sir._

_TogetherAgain: Thanks! _

_LyraXEthan: Well, it's not so much that he didn't find the Digimental, as he couldn't open the freakin door…_

_DigiCrazy91:Thanks! And yea…sorry about the whole not updating in forever thing…and thanks! I would have loved for them to have been used._

_Supershooter: Hahahaha, yea, you can say that again! Thanks!_

_The other Guy: The real review…sigh, I supposed I'll have to reply to this one…too freakin long of a review. And of course I wasn't joking, my threats are never a joke! And since we're the same person, of course none of us updates, we/I planned that. If only things were that easy, which they will be in the AU fic! Haha! And that's why it's the top of file island, not the inside. Cause Izzy's a dummy. And they're flying. I don't know if you've ever known this, but generally things that fly go faster than things that swim, so that accounts for that. And only for viruses. And I do love having the Digidestined do some airborne assaults. And that's because he idolizes Tai. Of course he'd want to do something he did. Well, for Piedmon its more of a he has so much power he doesn't need goons, and he doesn't really care about them since he's a bad guy._

_Dark Dragoon 22: Sorry, here's the next chapter. I got a little bit out of being able/motivated to write. Sorry you were without your digimon fix._

_Asdf: Thanks! And here you go!_


	29. Endgame Part 2

_Well, here we are again, with another chapter, and pretty close to the end as well, so we're going to go with a short note. Later._

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own digimon._

_**Last Time:**__ The Digidestined got the Digimental, and managed to digivolve all of their partners to their Mega level. Now all twelve partners will try to stop Piedmon._

**Chapter 29 Endgame (Part 2)**

_Sora_

"I wouldn't assume that I'm finished yet Digidestined!" Piedmon said with a smile as all of our partners lined up opposite the freakish clown. The digimon all charged at pretty much the same moment, all of them shouting or roaring.

"Yea, go Phonixmon!" I shouted, before trying to get a better grip on Tai. The stupid boy had gone and gotten himself hurt once again, though it didn't look as bad as the last time he'd gotten seriously hurt when I wasn't around, however Kari did have to help me keep him on his feet.

Of course, Davis and Matt where hardly better off. Piedmon had done a real number to them while we'd been retrieving the Digimental, but they'd lasted long enough for us to get the Digimental, which meant that we finally had a chance to finish off Piedmon, and get home, finally.

"Sora, why don't you and Kari put me down for now." Tai said a second later, while the Digimon engaged in battle in front of us. "You two don't need to hold me up right now, just find a good rock."

"Ok," I replied, and the three of us awkwardly moved over to one of the rocks that were up here on the summit of the mountain. We slowly lowered him onto the rock, and I sat down next to him, looking over to our partners as they fought Piedmon.

Surprisingly, and despite the fact that there were twelve of them, and one Piedmon, the clown seemed to be holding his own.

"Excalibur!" Seraphimon shouted, and an energy sword extended from his right hand. He charged at Piedmon from one side, while Ophanimon charged at him with her spear from the other. Piedmon pulled out two of his swords to block the attack, and threw both of the Angelic digimon flying away from him.

Before he could attack them though, WarGreymon, Magnamon, and Rosemon charged him, and the four of them exchanged a flurry of blows. Eventually WarGreymon, Magnamon, and Rosemon were all forced away from Piedmon, but almost as soon as they did, someone else attacked.

"Super Electro Shocker!"

"Crimson Flame!"

"Ice Wolf Claw!"

HerculesKabuterimon, Phonixmon, and MetalGarurumon sent their attacks flying at Piedmon, who didn't have the chance to even try and avoid the attacks, which all hit right where he was.

"Alright!" I cheered, hoping that was an end to Piedmon.

"Keep up the attack!" Tai shouted as well, struggling to his feet as Kari and I moved onto either side of him to help.

"Tai?" I asked looking at him. "Don't you think that should have finished him?"

"It should have, but he's tough beyond what should work." Tai replied, and sure enough, as the smoke from the attacks cleared, Piedmon was standing there, only slightly battered.

"Keep up the attack!" WarGreymon shouted, echoing his partner, before all of the digimon jumped forward once again.

"How can he survive all of these attacks?" I asked, looking over towards Izzy.

"I don't know." Izzy replied after a few seconds. "We already know that somehow he's been powered up, but I think we've seriously underestimated just how powered up he is I think."

"Wait, are you saying he still might win?" Kari asked, looking over at Izzy as well. Most of us were looking at the red haired genius.

"No, I don't think he can win against twelve Megas, but anything is possible, and they have to push him." Izzy replied, as another flurry of attacks lit up the battle field.

GrandisKuwagamon, Vikemon, Plesiomon, and Valkyrimon had all hit Piedmon once more with their attacks, and as they backed away from the clown, WarGreymon, Seraphimon, Magnamon, Ophanimon, and MetalGarurumon charged in.

MetalGarurumon fired another volley of missiles, covering the other four as they charged in to attack the clown from four different directions. Piedmon was hard pressed to defend from their attacks, as he only had the two arms for the four opponents.

He swung at WarGreymon, who trapped his sword between his Dramon Destroyers. Piedmon tried to pull it out of WarGreymon's hold, but he didn't let go of it, and Piedmon realized too late that he was completely open.

Seraphimon raised his sword over Piedmon's trapped arm, and swung it down, severing the arm above the elbow. WarGreymon and Piedmon went flying away from each other as nothing was keeping them together anymore.

"YEA!" Tai shouted as the clown went down, minus an arm. "Now that's what I call teamwork!"

"Alright Seraphimon!" T.K. cheered as well from where he was holding up Matt. Despite our cheering all of the digimon rushed in for another attack, firing everything they had right at Piedmon.

I had to cover my eyes from the attacks, as they lit up the entire summit of the mountain. When I could look once more, the mountain was completely wrecked up here on the summit, and Piedmon was still somehow on his feet. His missing arm, and several other parts of him were leaking data, and he was holding his side.

"It's over Piedmon." Seraphimon said as all of our partners surrounded him. He had nowhere to run, and none of our partners were seriously hurt. "You are now going to be deleted for all the pain and suffering you have caused this world again."

"Ha…ha….hahahahahahaha!" Piedmon started laughing as Seraphimon said that, and all of our partners tensed up, I even tensed up, because Piedmon laughing was never a good thing for us.

"You think I'm finished already Seraphimon?" Piedmon asked, looking up at the armored angel. "I'm only getting started!" Piedmon raised his remaining hand towards us, the Digidestined. "Final Spell!"

"Seven Heavens!" Seraphimon called out at the same moment, and the two attacks collided, causing a massive explosion. When it cleared, I could see that Piedmon was down on one knee, and all of our partners were closing in on him.

"It is over Piedmon." Seraphimon said once more as the digimon all got closer to Piedmon, before coming to a halt.

"Ah, I thought you might remember this." Piedmon said with a laugh. I didn't know what he was referring to, but all of our partners started to back away from Piedmon.

_What could make them do that when we've finally got him beat?_ I thought to myself as Piedmon finally came back into view. He was waving around a white cloth in his hand, and my heart stopped for a second.

Memories of watching all of my friends get turned into key chains came back into my mind at an astonishingly fast rate, and I remembered how Piedmon had almost turned defeat into victory the last time we fought him.

"Why are they backing away?" Davis asked, cocking his head from where he was being supported by Ken and Joe. "He looks like he's going to surrender."

"Davis, you remember that story about how Piedmon turned us all into Key Chains?" Joe asked, as we all watched Piedmon walk towards us. Davis nodded his head. "That's how he did it."

"That trick won't work again clown." WarGreymon said, stepping forward. "I'll cut any cloths you try to throw at us to pieces."

"Who said anything about this being for you?" Piedmon asked with a laugh, before he threw the cloth over himself.

"Get him!" Magnamon shouted and all of the digimon rushed forward. Magnamon and WarGreymon reached the cloth the fastest, but even then Piedmon was already gone.

"Damn it!" Tai said as it become obvious that the clown had escaped. "We had him, and he somehow still gets away." I could tell that he was beyond pissed, and to be honest, I was pretty angry as well. I'd wanted to end things here and now, but it looked like we couldn't do that.

"Don't worry Digidestined, I didn't go far!" A voice suddenly said from next to T.K., and I turned in horror to see Piedmon standing there, a smile in his face as he sent T.K. and Matt flying away from him. The horror became even worse as I saw what was flying through the air, as it had been knocked out of T.K.'s hand.

Piedmon reached out a hand, and grabbed the Digimental out of the air, and his smile only grew bigger.

"Now I think we can end this battle." Piedmon said before he started to glow a bright red.

"Everyone, get away from him!" Tai shouted, and no one needed to be told twice as we all scurried away from the transforming clown.

Kari and I helped Tai to get away from the clown, but the three of us couldn't move fast enough to get away from him. I looked back as the red glow disappeared, and Piedmon had reappeared, fully healed.

He also looked different, as all of the color seemed to have been drained from his body, leaving only black and white, as opposed to the ridiculous colors he'd had before.

"Izzy, what just happened?" Tai asked as we all ducked behind some rocks.

"I'm not sure. Piedmon used the Digimental, but he was already a Mega, so I don't know what would have happened." Izzy replied, pulling out his laptop. He typed away at his keyboard for a minute, before his eyes widened in shock.

"What is it Izzy?" I asked, even more concerned than I had been.

"His power level…" Izzy said, looking over at me and the others. "It's off the charts."

"What?" Tai asked looking at Izzy. "How is that possible?"

"Easy Digidestined," Piedmon said, interrupting our conversation. "I've digivolved past the Mega level. I am now a Super Ultimate digimon, ChaosPiedmon!" The clown started to laugh as he said that, even more crazily than before.

"Izzy, what exactly is a Super Ultimate?" Tai asked Izzy. I looked over to where Matt and T.K. had been thrown earlier, and was relieved to see Joe had made it to them.

"I came across the term a few times at Gennai's house." Izzy replied. "It's just as Piedmon said, it's the supposed level beyond Mega, but there has never been a confirmed account of one, at least, that's what Gennai's books said."

"Well, now there has been Digidestined, and just in time for the Final Act!" ChaosPiedmon declared, just as all of our partners rushed at him.

"It doesn't matter what you've decided to call yourself!" Seraphimon declared as he flew towards ChaosPiedmon.

"We'll still rip you apart!" WarGreymon finished for the Angel digimon.

"Oh good, now for some pay back." ChaosPiedmon said, pulling out all of his swords. "Chaos Swords!" The swords flew forward, and knocked our partners right out of the sky. They fell to the ground, crashing hard as they did.

"Do you seriously think you can compete with my power?" ChaosPiedmon asked with a laugh. "I am now the most powerful digimon, ever. You don't stand a chance."

"Oh yea?" A voice called from behind ChaosPiedmon, who turned quickly. "Terra Force!" WarGreymon tossed his attack right at ChaosPiedmon, who simply pointed a hand at it.

"Chaos Destroy!" A green blast of energy shot out from ChaosPiedmon, ripped through WarGreymon's Terra Force, and still hit Tai's partner with enough power to knock him out of the sky.

"WarGreymon!" Tai shouted out as his partner fell out of the sky. At that point the rest of our partners tried attack once more, with much the same results.

"What happened to the Digimental?" Izzy asked, looking around for a second before we all ducked back down behind some cover.

"Izzy, how can you worry about that thing at a time like this?" Mimi asked, crouched down by Matt.

"It might be the only thing that can stop him!" Izzy replied. "We might be able to use it to digivolve our partners to Super Ultimate."

"That would be good, but ChaosPiedmon has the Digimental." T.K. said as he held onto his arm.

"No, he actually dropped it." Cody replied to T.K. "Back over there." I turned to where he had pointed, and it was where he'd digivolved, and where WarGreymon had fallen.

"Ok, we should try and go get it." Davis said, looking around as he did.

"Davis, are you crazy?" Yolei asked, looking at the younger gogglehead. "If we go out there, we'll get blown to tiny bits!"

"If we stay here we'll get blown to tiny bits Yolei." Davis replied, "Our partners don't stand a chance against ChaosPiedmon, unless we can get them to digivolve again."

At that point, HerculesKabuterimon went flying over our hiding place, and I looked out at the battle. Our partners really weren't doing good. Several of them had already reverted to their In-Training form, while the others were getting tossed around like rag dolls.

"Ok, we'll have to pick someone to try and get it." Izzy said, looking around. "Tai, who do you think should go?"

Izzy was met with nothing but silence, and I was surprised. Usually Tai would have already said he was going to get it, and for the rest of us to stay here. I turned to see if he was thinking or something, when I noticed it finally.

Tai wasn't there.

I scrambled to get a good look out, towards where the Digimental was, and sure enough, Tai was already half way there, limping along as he headed for the area.

"That idiot!" I exclaimed loudly, trying to hide the sudden sick feeling in my stomach. I had a really bad feeling about this. Tai managed to get all the way to the area, and started looking around, joined seconds later by WarGreymon, who seemed to be mostly ok.

"AHHHHHHH!" I turned as a sudden scream split the air, just in time to see Ophanimon reverting back into Salamon after a blow from ChaosPiedmon.

"Ah, now all the annoying insects are out of the way." ChaosPiedmon said with a smile, which broke for a second. "Damn, I forgot about the one with the claws. Better go destroy him now."

ChaosPiedmon headed right for where WarGreymon and Tai were still scrambling around, looking for the Digimental.

"Oh, what do we have here, a Digidestined come to die with his digimon?" ChaosPiedmon asked loudly as he finally saw Tai. I couldn't hear the response as they were too far away, but after a few second ChaosPiedmon raised his hands.

I didn't even have time to comprehend what was about to happen before the entire area was covered in a massive explosion from ChaosPiedmon's attack.

I sat there for a second, before exactly what had just happened penetrated through my mind.

"TAI!" Kari shouted next to me, as I tried to say something, but I literally couldn't. No noise came out of my mouth, as ChaosPiedmon emerged from the smoke, a smile on his face.

_Tai_

I limped through the mostly destroyed terrain around the mountain, trying to get to the Digimental before the new ChaosPiedmon decided that it wasn't something that should be left alone.

_I wonder how long it'll take the others to figure out I left as soon as I knew where the Digimental was?_ I wondered to myself. I was almost amused thinking about it, but then of course they'd all be worried sick about the fact that I was out here, so it wasn't really that funny.

Hopefully none of them would do anything stupid like come after me that would make me dragging myself out here almost pointless. If I'd wanted the others to be in danger I wouldn't have done this, quite obviously.

_Now if only I wasn't all busted up again…And what is with that? Do I have some sign on me that says, hey, come injury me, I enjoy it or something?_ I thought to myself again as I finally got to the area where Piedmon had digivolved.

WarGreymon was struggling to his feet as I got there, since he'd crashed when ChaosPiedmon had attacked him.

"Tai!" He said in surprise as he saw me. "What are you doing here? It's dangerous."

"Well, I couldn't just leave you out here on your own, could I?" I asked, a grin on my face. "And, we need to find the Digimental."

"What? Doesn't ChaosPiedmon have it?" WarGreymon asked, and I could hear the pain in his voice now that he wasn't so surprised.

"No, Izzy said he dropped it somewhere over here, and it's our only chance to stop that clown." I replied.

"Ok then, what are we waiting for?" WarGreymon asked, and I smiled at my partner. Despite the fact that he was heavily injured, and had to be hurting he was still trying to be enthusiastic.

The two of us frantically looked for the little red stone somewhere in the area. You'd expect a glowing red rock to be somewhat easy to find, but this thing wasn't even close to easy to find. We looked around for several minutes with no luck, and I knew we were swiftly running out of time.

Just when things were really looking like we might not spot the stupid rock, I noticed something red sticking out of the ground. Of course, at that moment we were out of time.

"Oh, what do we have here, a Digidestined come to die with his digimon?" ChaosPiedmon asked, startling me as I hadn't even noticed his arrival.

_Really, he had to get here now of all times?_ I thought to myself, cursing my luck.

"Nope, I'm just out here to help kick your ass." I reply. The look on ChaosPiedmon's face was almost priceless, almost.

_I really need to work on the whole pissing off the super powerful bad guys when I don't have back up…_ I thought to myself as ChaosPiedmon regained control of himself.

"Very well Digidestined, I will allow you to be the first to die!" He exclaimed, and I turned as he raised his hand. Now, this wasn't out of straight terror, though I was terrified I like to think I would have looked death in the face as it came, but rather an attempt to live.

I dived back towards the Digimental, pulling out my digivice as I did. I hoped that was the right thing to do, since I'd never done something like it before, but it was the only chance I had to not die. WarGreymon was attempting to dive in front of me, but I knew that was only going to speed up his death unless somehow I could get the Digimental to work.

Everything seemed to slow down as I jumped towards the Digimental, and ChaosPiedmon started his attack.

"Chaos Destroy!" I could feel the heat from the attack, and the entire area was painted in a green light as ChaosPiedmon launched his attack.

I finally seemed to land, right next to the Digimental, with my digivice pointed right at it, and then everything was covered in a blinding light.

When the light faded somewhat I opened my eyes, and couldn't see anything.

_Am I dead?_ I thought for a second before the pain from all of my injuries hitting the ground when I jumped returned, confirming that I was in fact alive.

"TAI!" I heard a blood curdling scream, and had to wince. Since I wasn't dead, Piedmon must have missed.

_They probably think I'm dead because it looked like I got hit, and this freakin smoke cloud is here._ I thought to myself. I would have shouted back, but I could hardly breathe in all the dust and smoke.

The cloud started to clear, and, let's just say I got a surprising sight. WarGreymon was between me and ChaosPiedmon, which explained how I was still alive, but he was also glowing, a bright orange color, just like my Crest.

"What is this?" ChaosPiedmon exclaimed as he also came into view.

"WarGreymon!" I shouted, concerned that something bad had happened to my partner, but that's when I saw my digivice. The thing was also glowing a bright orange, like it did whenever Agumon digivolved to Mega or Ultimate, but he was already at his highest level, wasn't he?

I looked back at the Digimental, and it was also glowing, though its own red color. There was an intense heat coming from it as it glowed, and then WarGreymon talked.

"WarGreymon, Ultimate Digivolve to!" He disappeared completely into the light, and the light turned into the standard sphere of digivolution.

"What is this!" ChaosPiedmon shouted again, probably even more surprised than I was. Before he could say or do anything else though, the digivolution sphere shattered, and WarGreymon's new form landed between ChaosPiedmon and me.

At first I didn't really notice that he'd changed, because he looked almost the same as WarGreymon did, but as I looked closer I noticed subtle differences, and one large difference. His head was covered by a different helmet, with a different design on it, including a larger center horn, and a V spreading out on its sides. His Brave Shield was replaced by a pair of shells, that look a little like wings. There was a green crystal of sorts on his chest, and his Dramon Destroyers were gone, replaced by wrist bracers of some sort the first half of the big difference. The last, and other half of the big difference, was the large blade that extended from his right wrist bracer, and the other, smaller blade that extended from his left one.

"VictoryGreymon!" he declared, finishing his digivolution.

"Wow…VictoryGreymon?" I asked, looking up at my partner's new form in awe. "AWESOME!" I couldn't help but be a little giddy at how awesome he looked, and the fact that he should be able to fight Piedmon.

"VictoryGreymon, how do you feel?" I called out, not really sure what else I could ask my partner.

"Ready to kick some clown's ass." VictoryGreymon replied, going into a fighting stance.

"Yea, me to!" I declare, and Piedmon laughs once again.

"So you think you have the power to beat me now?" He asked, and brought his hand up again. "Chaos Destroy!"

"Victory Charge!" The two blades shot off of VictoryGreymon's arms, and the smaller blade split apart at the top, and the larger blade merged with it. I hadn't seen it before, but the smaller blade had a hilt that was hidden in VictoryGreymon's bracer, which means that the two combined to form a massive sword. VictoryGreymon used the blade to deflect ChaosPiedmon's attack into the sky.

"What? Impossible!" ChaosPiedmon exclaimed, before VictoryGreymon charged at him.

"Nope, not impossible!" He shouted, before swinging his sword around to hit ChaosPiedmon. ChaosPiedmon barely had time to pull out one of his own swords to block the attack. VictoryGreymon attacked again, swinging his massive weapon around faster than should be possible, and Piedmon had to pull another sword out to deflect that one.

The two then exchanged a flurry of blows, with VictoryGreymon pushing ChaosPiedmon back, despite the fact that ChaosPiedmon had twice as many swords as he did.

Then VictoryGreymon got an opening, knocking away one of ChaosPiedmon's swords, and leaving a deep gash in his chest.

"This is impossible!" ChaosPiedmon exclaimed as VictoryGreymon stepped back for a minute. "I'm the strongest digimon in the world! You will not defeat me!" ChaosPiedmon pulled out another sword, and jumped into the attack, now pushing VictoryGreymon back.

"Hang in there VictoryGreymon!" I exclaimed, trying to encourage my partner, since I couldn't do much else at this point. The two continued to exchange blows, neither one able to gain a significant upper hand over the other one.

"Dramon Breaker!" VictoryGreymon exclaimed, putting all of his power behind an attack, which ChaosPiedmon attempted to block. VictoryGreymon's attack however cut right through his sword. ChaosPiedmon barely managed to avoid getting cut in half, but was able to post a quick counter attack, leaving a gash on VictoryGreymon's left arm.

"VictoryGreymon!" I exclaimed, starting forward, but someone else stopped me. I turned to see a teary eyes Sora standing here, holding my arm. The other Digidestined were all around me now, obviously they'd come over during the fight. Even Matt and T.K. were here.

"Don't go out there." She said, pleading almost. "I can't take the thought of you going out there again."

That stopped me right in my tracks. I hadn't even thought about how the others were feeling at the moment, I was too focused on the battle, and hadn't been thinking about the others.

"Ok, I won't." I replied, stepping back to be next to her. The look of relief on her face was very visible. I looked back towards where VictoryGreymon and ChaosPiedmon were continuing to engage, and again neither digimon could get the upper hand. They were too evenly matched, so it would be the first mistake that lost the battle, and VictoryGreymon had been fighting longer that ChaosPiedmon, if in another form, which meant that he had to be tiring out by this point.

_There has to be some way to help him…_ I thought to myself, looking around for anything, and my eyes found the Digimental, which was once more lying on the ground, forgotten by everyone. I leaned down and picked it up, and then turned to the Digidestined.

"Matt!" I exclaimed, looking over at my blond haired best friend, he looked up as I called his name.

"What Tai?" He asked, and I grinned at him.

"What do you say we find some help for VictoryGreymon?" I asked, tossing the Digimental up into the air. Matt grinned and I tossed him the Digimental. He looked at it for a minute, and then looked back at me.

"Uh, Tai. What exactly do I do with this?" He asked, and I sighed. T.K. luckily was next to him, and showed him exactly what needed to be done. Matt held up his digivice to the stone, and it started to glow.

I looked over to where MetalGarurumon was knocked out on the ground, and he started to glow, an intense blue, just like Matt's Crest. A second later and MetalGarurumon's eyes open, and the digivolution started.

"MetalGarurumon Ultimate Digivolve to!"

Neither of the combatants seemed to notice the digivolution going in behind them, but that would work just fine for us, since that meant ChaosPiedmon wouldn't be expecting this.

MetalGarurumon's new form emerged from the digivolution sphere, and I was struck at how similar it was to his Mega form, just like VictoryGreymon. His claws and nose were now green, and there were several subtly different weapons covering his body, but the biggest difference was the massive cannon on his back.

"ZeedGarurumon!"

That shout gained the attention of VictoryGreymon and ChaosPiedmon, both of whom broke apart as ZeedGarurumon charged at them.

"Zeed Cannon!" The massive cannon on ZeedGarurumon's back unleashed a massive blast of blue energy, which flew right at ChaosPiedmon, who narrowly managed to avoid the attack.

"What is thi…" ChaosPiedmon started to ask, but VictoryGreymon jumped forward once more, swinging his massive sword around to attack him. ChaosPiedmon was forced to jump backwards to avoid the swing, but VictoryGreymon used the flat of his blade to hit him up into the air.

"Blowback Breath!" ZeedGarurumon sprayed a grey mist at ChaosPiedmon, which exploded when it came into contact with him.

"Argh!" ChaosPiedmon shouted as he fell out of the sky, and landed on his back.

"Alright! Finish him off!" I cheered as Matt and I's partners proceeded to thrash the clown again.

ChaosPiedmon avoided another swing from VictoryGreymon, only to get blasted by ZeedGarurumon. It was their classic strategy. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon had almost been designed as compliments to one another, with WarGreymon specializing in close quarters battle, while MetalGarurumon specialized in long ranged combat. The two had complimented each other perfectly, and worked out a strategy designed to maximize their strength of working together. As VictoryGreymon and ZeedGarurumon they had the exact same strengths, and even more power, making their strategy that more effective.

ChaosPiedmon jumped away from his two opponents, breathing hard, and bleeding data from a number of wounds.

"This…is…impossible…" The clown breathed as he faced our partners. "You…cannot…defeat….me."

"Really? Because we've done it before." Matt said, finally standing on his own.

"And if you ever try to come back, we'll take you down again." I added, and stared down the clown once more. "Now I think it's time you went away. Guys?" I turned to VictoryGreymon and ZeedGarurumon as I said this, and the two of them nodded.

"Right!" The said together, and VictoryGreymon jumped right at ChaosPiedmon. The clown held up his swords to block the blow he was expecting, but VictoryGreymon wasn't aiming for his head or body.

"AARRGGHH!" ChaosPiedmon screamed as VictoryGreymon drove his sword into his foot.

"Enjoy being deleted!" VictoryGreymon said, before jumping away from ChaosPiedmon, his sword still in his foot.

"What?" ChaosPiedmon asked as VictoryGreymon retreated.

"Full Metal Blaze!" ChaosPiedmon looked up at ZeedGarurumon, who had every single one of the gunports on his body open. Dozens of missiles and energy blasts, including the massive Zeed Cannon, fired right at ChaosPiedmon.

The clown attempted to jump away, but he was trapped by VictoryGreymon's sword, which pinned his foot to the ground.

"NNNNOOOOOOOOOO!" He shouted as the blasts hit him.

I watched, covering my eyes, as the blasts hit, creating the latest biggest explosion I'd ever seen. When the smoke and dust from the explosion settled, there was hardly any of ChaosPiedmon left. We all watched as his chest finished dissolving into data.

It was finally done.

~Chapter End~

_Well, Piedmon is finally gone, and yes, he is gone now, there will not be a reviving for him. Anyways, hoped you enjoyed this last official chapter of How Far We've Come, and don't forget to read the Epilogue that's out!_

_**Review Replies:**_

_Matani: I thought it was weird as well, and didn't make sense since they have Ophanimon, and I never really liked Magnadramon__ anyways, so I went with this, and of course! And was that a bit closer to what you expected? Last chapter was supposed to end at this one's half way point, but I changed it around because this works better. THANKS!_

_A Dream Worth Fighting For: It was pretty much, until off course someone decided to drop the Digimental…and THANK you so much! That makes me feel a bit happier! And good luck with that!_

_Appealtoreason: …SuperAwesomeAppealToReasonMon? Where'd you come up with that? Lol_

_PrincessOfDestiny14:Exactly, that was my logic with that whole situation. And good to know, thanks for the info!_

_TaioraWarrior: Did you really think they could beat them without me making WarGreymon even more awesome? And I'm glad you enjoyed that. And well, yea, but that would have been a little hard. And I'm assuming from the fact that you actually gave me 5 seconds of silence that you were actually serious, in which case, HOW CAN YOU LIKE THE FREAKIN RANDOM DRAGON MORE THAN THE AWESOME ANGEL! And yes, you do need to post, even if only to finish your current stories, like seriously._

_Asdf: Well, I'm glad that you liked it, even if I didn't think it was that awesome of a chapter. Thanks again, and enjoy this one._

_Supershooter: Yea…it's really weird. You'll see this again in the Epilogue, but I've been working on this story, and it's prequel, for over a year now, and now that I'm done, it's…weird. And of course. Tai and Sora was always planned for the end!_

_Ezio Uchiha: Well, I'm glad you really enjoyed it! And how did you like the end there? Good?_

_TheOtherGuy4544: And here we go again…Review Reply SUPER POWERS ACTIVATE! For old time sake. And yea, I have very much the same problem when I started writing the chapter. And it really does, doesn't it. Well, the Digidestined never went to Devimon's base, cause, IT'S DEVIMON'S BASE! Who in their right mind would go there? And the digital world has been reborn at least twice since Devimon inhabited the place, and he didn't build it, so if everything went back to how it was, it wouldn't be corrupted. I mean seriously, I mentioned half of that in the story, and the other half is common knowledge, think before complaining. Izzy's a genius, I figure he can have ridiculous photographic memory enough to remember that. And I'm going to ignore the last few sentences, since you let your desire to kill Yolei override your common sense (which is understandable). Well, that would be because it was action, I've done that a lot, and in all honesty, prefer writing as the guys, cause they do more cool stuff/kick more ass, and I'm a guy, so I get them more. And yes, that is the plan in general. And there is no such thing as over kill, seriously. And as you saw, it was anything but overkill. And the adverse effects for Tai…Well, he had them at the mural, because they were of him, and brought back memories that he had suppressed. I figure that messes with the mind. The Digimental however, isn't quite as memory jogging, and he's in the heat of battle, he's not thinking about what it is, only what it can do, so get over it. If you behave I'll have him flip out in the eventual sequel over it. Point out mistakes if you're going to complain, telling me about them does next to nothing. And get over it. I didn't want to bore everyone with describing digimon they would still have to look up to really visualize. Seriously, if I'd described them you'd probably be bitching about how much time I wasted doing that…and I didn't rush the chapter. In fact, I spent so much I time on it, I put parts I'd planned for it into this chapter. So there._


	30. Epilogue

_Ok, well, as the title pretty much tells you, this is the end for this story. More on that at the end note, for now, on with the Epilogue!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own digimon! For serious!_

_**Last time:**__ Read the freakin story, you're not cheating for this chapter!_

**Epilogue**

_Tai_

All of us stood surrounding one of the television sets which would bring us back to our world, the human world. We were all smiling, about as happy as the twelve of us could be at this point. We'd finally stopped Piedmon, and after months spent in the digital world, we were finally getting back home.

Of course, not all of us were in mint condition, since several of us had been hurt in the final battle, but it wasn't anything time couldn't heal.

After the battle with ChaosPiedmon, Joe had insisted on all of us returning to Gennai's house so we get patched up. He insisted that if we did anything else, we would injure ourselves even more, and all the normal stuff he says to try and scare us into listening to him.

So we all listened to him, after all we hadn't wanted Joe to freak out too much, and he was probably right. At Gennai's we were able to see how the evil that had started to spread back into the digital world was now starting to recede. All of Piedmon's armies were still rampaging around the digital world, but the actual corruption was actually disappearing.

We also showed Gennai the Digimental, which he said could be used to release the Harmonious Ones without needing to give up all of our Crest's power. Needless to say, all of us were more than a little excited for that fact, so we went ahead with that plan. In addition the cleanup would go a lot faster with the Harmonious Ones around to shut people up.

So we travelled to each of the Temples of the Crests, with the Digimental in tow, and left a bit of its power there. (Don't ask me how, Gennai did some weird stuff, and then said we were good to go, I didn't really want to ask that many questions about it.)

Soon afterwards the Harmonious Ones returned, and with us helping them in a few of the battles they were able to stop all of Piedmon's armies, and restore Primary Village so that all of the digimon who had been destroyed by Piedmon could be returned to life.

"So we're sure this thing is going to work now, right?" Davis asked, poking the TV with his foot.

"Yes Davis, Gennai said that the gate was back to being open." Izzy replied with a sigh, shaking his head at the goggle wearing teen. "In fact, the Gate is more 'open' than it's ever been before."

"What does that mean Izzy?" I asked, looking over at him. I knew that the Harmonious Ones had said that things weren't going to be quite the same as they had been before, but this sounded pretty major.

"Well, Gennai said that the only way to undue Piedmon's damage, was the make a whole new gate." Izzy replied, looking down at the TV. "This one is even accessible to digimon who have a partner in the real world."

"Well, that sounds great." Sora said from where she was standing next to me. "Now all of our partners can come and go between the worlds without any need for us to open the portals!"

"Well, yes, but that's not all it means." Izzy said, looking around the forest we were standing in. "Any digimon with a human partner can travel to the real world, even ones who haven't found their partners yet."

That caused all of us to pause and look over at Izzy.

"So there's going to be hundreds of digimon that can come to the real world looking for their partners?" Cody asked.

"More like thousands, or even millions." Izzy replied, shaking his head.

"That's great! There will be that many people who have the chance to actually find their partners now!" T.K. exclaimed, a smile on his face. I thought that it would be a good thing, but there was a negative side to that.

"Imagine all those digimon coming into the real world…" Ken said after a minute of silence.

"The government is going to have its hands full if that many digimon come through!" I exclaim with a laugh. That would have to be a complex and horrible job in the government one day soon.

"But it'll hopefully do more good for everyone." Kari said, and everyone nodded, knowing exactly how much better our lives had gotten after meeting our partners.

"So, if all of our partners can open the portal now, why are we waiting on them?" Davis asked, looking at all of us. "I mean, why don't we go ahead and meet up with them later?"

"Well, for one, they're supposed to meet us here." I replied, shaking my head at Davis. Sometimes he really needed to turn his brain all the way on.

"And another, they're our partners you jerk!" Yolei shouted, and I sighed. Every time with those two.

"Who are you calling a jerk?" Davis replied, standing up.

"Who do you think, jerk?" Yolei replied, also standing up. Ken and T.K. moved over to the two of them, hoping to stop them before they actually started a fist fight, again.

"Hey, I hear Davis and Yolei!" A voice called through the woods, and a second later all of our partners came running out of the forest.

"Tai!" Agumon shouted as he run up to me.

"Agumon!" I replied, holding out a hand for a high five. The Harmonious Ones had needed to talk to our partners before we returned to the human world, so we'd gone ahead of them.

Everyone spent a few seconds talking with their partners, and then almost as one we all quieted down.

"Well, I guess that means that it's time to get going." Matt said, looking around at everyone, and I nodded at him.

"Yep." I said, and turned towards the portal. "Let's go home."

"Digiport, OPEN!"

~Chapter End~

~Story End~

_Well, that's the end for How Far We've Come, and well, it's been a good time writing. I'd like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read this story, especially everyone who has reviewed. _

_Anywho, there is a sequel planned for this story, but it's not going to be coming out for a while. I've been working on this series for over a year now, and I feel the need to let it lie for a bit, and for other stories to have some attention. So the sequel probably won't come out for quite a few months._

_Anyways, thanks again to everyone, later._

_-arandomguy227_


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